By Sofia Partesotti
Photo by Sofia Partesotti
With 71 new freshmen students at the Brimmer Campus this year, our high school has many more new faces compared to past years. Who are they, and how are they liking Willow so far?
One thing many students love is the support that various teachers offer. “The teachers are nicer and more accommodating,” said new Willow freshman Susan Guste. “They offer more help like office hours.”
“So far, the teachers are way better, we learn more, and the teachers are a lot more organized,” another new Willow freshman, Lucia Bandzuch, echoed. “I feel like we learn a lot in a week.”
Another thing new freshmen coming from other schools seem to like is the variety of options and classes that Willow offers. “I would say in comparison to other schools, Willow has definitely given me more options and individuality in choosing my classes, which has been extremely helpful,” said Stella Gorman.
In addition to a large list of academic classes, some students are focused on Certificate of Artistry (CA) and areas of concentration (AC) programs. The new students this year are doing many different types of CAs, including musical theater, choir, dance, and also AC programs like Biomed.
“I knew about CA and AC programs before coming to Willow. I’m doing CA dance. I like it a lot because they didn’t offer dance at my old school,” said Jailyn Chaney.
There are also many challenges that come from being in a brand new school. Some of the biggest for many new freshmen include a larger building, more responsibilities, and meeting new people. “My biggest challenge is meeting new people. There are a lot more people here than Hynes,” said Lily Sanders. “I have more assignments. I do swimming and soccer, which have a higher commitment level than I was used to.”
In comparison to other schools, Willow may have more challenging academics and longer class hours.
“My biggest challenge was the class hours,” said Zoeya Siddiqui. “At my middle school, it was one hour each class. Now it’s an hour and a half per class. Also, Willow is a lot bigger. There were only 40 kids in my eighth grade. I liked knowing everybody, but I like Willow more because I get to meet new people.”
