Back to school season calls for new supplies, reuniting with friends, and, for some, becoming the newest additions to Dreyfoos. 

Coming to a new school can be difficult, but the students and staff make navigating high school a feasible challenge. To aid with the transition from middle to high school, The Muse has put together a guide for all the new Jaguars.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Clubs and sports are the most common ways to get involved. Club Rush gives students the opportunity to see every club on campus. 

During Club Rush, the whole school packed into the gym during lunch, while club officers eagerly handed out flyers. SGA put together a Club Guidebook on their instagram page docs.google.com/document. The guide tells you who the club officers and sponsors are. If there was a club you wanted to join but you didn’t get the chance to sign up, you can contact officers via student email. There are over 60 clubs—you’re bound to find one right for you!   

“Definitely go to Club Rush,” communications dean Angela Anyzeski said. “Pay attention to what’s happening in your art area. Pay attention to clubs or groups getting together and ask questions.” 

If you saw a club you liked, you can sign up for it and get information about the club’s mission, meeting dates, and requirements, even if you didn’t sign up at Club Rush. Make sure to get information like Remind codes and social media. Club Rush is a great opportunity to get involved—you might have even gotten some candy out of it!

Here is a list of all of the sports that have started or will start sometime this school year for you to participate in! 

Fall Sports and Coaches

• Volleyball—Ruby Hernandez
• Golf—Mark Carson and Matthew Vaughan
• Swim—Nathan Hesse
• Bowling—Stephen Anand
• Cross country—Craig Adams
• Soccer—Sarah Garcia, conditioning starts Sept. 16

Winter Sports and Coaches

• Basketball—Matthew Vaughan

Spring Sports and Coaches

• Tennis—Diana Hertel 
• Track—TBA

EVENTS 

Spirit Week is our middle name. But, if you think that is the only time for quirky school spirit, you’re wrong. 

Spirit Week is held during the last week of January. Yes, Spirit Week is intense. And yes, it is the most anticipated week out of the entire year. There are 3 main dances: the Generation Dance (based on decade stereotypes), Powderpuff, and Pep Rally dance, which is held on the last day. Each day of Spirit Week is a different theme, and each grade is assigned a different take on the day’s theme. For example, one day might be a holiday theme, so every grade level would represent a different holiday. Remember that most students participate, so make sure to get your best outfits—you only have four years of pure crazy!

On Halloween, you can dress up in costumes, with the consideration of certain bans like no masks, hats, or weapons. At lunch, games are held in the gym among the grade levels. 

On Fun Fridays, SGA plays music and hands out treats during lunch in the cafeteria. Student bands also have the opportunity to play. This year, Watching Paint Dry instagram.com/watchingpaintdrytheband is looking forward to perform during a few Fun Fridays.

WORKLOAD

It’s true that high school here has a bigger workload than middle school. You might feel swamped, but it’s important to remember that your peers are going through the same thing. Balancing your major, academics, homework, and extracurriculars is hard to get accustomed to. Fortunately, it isn’t just you who is experiencing this, and it’s normal to feel overwhelmed.

“I think that we’re struggling, at least a lot of my friends [are] with homework and studying,” dance freshman Emily Jones said. “At Bak they would give us set dates, but now we have to study every subject. They also go a lot faster than they did in middle school.” 

Dreyfoos might seem scary at first, but after a while, you will get used to the crazy everyday life of a high school student.  Some ways to organize your school work include using a planner and/or Google Calendar, checking Google Classroom frequently, and cleaning out your binders and folders. 

ADVICE

Being a newbie in the halls can be intimidating, especially at a school as ambitious as Dreyfoos. A lot of freshmen unnecessarily stress about having perfect grades or trying to take on more than they can handle. Remember that it’s perfectly fine to not be taking as many AP classes as the person next to you. Do what you can handle.

“Because we have a very competitive landscape here at Dreyfoos, I think that the peer pressure and false notion of having to be perfect to be successful start to impact them a little,” Ms. Anyzeski said. “[It impacts] some of them a lot, actually.”  

Even though the stakes are higher in high school, don’t obsess over every single grade. There will be good and bad, but trying your best is the most you can do as a student. Comparing yourself to your peers won’t help you in the long run. Instead, you can seek help from teachers and continue to work hard. 

“I would just say to stay on top of [your] homework because it just begins to pile up,” digital media senior Alexis Effenberger said. “You should practice staying on top of [your] homework freshman year.”

Having good time management is key. Mounds of assignments stacking up on your plate can be stressful. Teachers understand that you’re busy, but finding the right personal study habits is vital to Dreyfoos success. 

Dreyfoos may look intimidating from the outside, but with these tips and tricks, freshman year won’t be as difficult as it seems. So take a deep breath, don’t fall into Lake Dreyfoos, and enjoy your stay.