English seniors prepare to welcome freshmen

LYNN – Patricia Asuncion said her early days at Lynn English High School were tough, which is why she has volunteered for the last three years to introduce incoming freshmen to high school life.”I love being that person who when they come in and feel like they don’t know anyone – I’ll be that face in the hallway who says ?Hi,'” she said. “I want to be that person who guides them.”Asuncion, a senior, is among nearly 100 volunteers, both students and teachers, who have given up a fraction of their summer to take part in the school’s annual freshmen orientation, which will take place next Wednesday from 7:45 a.m. to noon.The group gathered Wednesday for the second of two training sessions.English Vice Principal Jennifer Mancaniello walked students through what they will be doing, which includes running the show.”You and your partner will be in charge of their well being,” she told students. “My advice is to keep everything positive.”Upperclassmen will be paired up and put in a classroom with 10 to 12 incoming freshmen. Their job is to essentially break the ice and make the kids feels welcome.”This is one of only two days when they’ll be alone in the school, the first day of school and orientation,” Mancaniello said.The program is important, she said, because it allows the newcomers to get familiar with the school, to figure out where their classes and the bathrooms are.”It lessens the apprehension,” she said.Mancaniello said she expects 300 to 350 kids will turn out for the orientation though she’d love to see all 500 incoming freshmen take part. The newbies will see performances by the school’s ROTC drill teams, take part in a get-to-know-the-school scavenger hunt that requires them to do things like figure out what is taught in room 105, find the workout room and do 10 jumping jacks and skip around the perimeter of the gym once while singing. They will also get to hear from Patrick Cogan, an LEHS graduate who is living with Friedreich Ataxia, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, who will speak about overcoming adversity.”He’ll have a couple of wheelchairs on stage with him,” Mancaniello said. “It’s interactive. He’ll invite kids up to do push ups. His motto is, ?You can always do more than you think you can.'”It’s not unlike Asuncion’s reason for volunteering. She said she didn’t have many friends her freshman year and often sat alone in the bathroom rather than enter the cafeteria alone.”It was tough so I want to be that person to help them out,” she said.Sisters Saleena and Somara Son echoed Asuncion.”It’s a lot to learn all at once, it can be really overwhelming,” Saleena Son said. “I hope as the years go by there won’t be that division between seniors and the lower classes.”Somara said she wanted to help freshmen have a good first year, “especially since it’s our last year.”Students who have yet to RSVP for the event still have time. Mancaniello said they have until Friday to let her know they are coming. She can be reached at 781-477-7366 ext. 3526 or by email at [email protected].”But it’s only for students,” Mancaniello added. “I have parents that want to come and it’s not for parents.”