Class of 2015 Goes Beyond Borders at Alverno

New freshmen at Alverno High School began class confident, comfortable, and ready to go. This is because of a new program at the college-prep high school for girls in Sierra Madre that aims to calm those freshman jitters and get a new school experience off on smooth start.

“The entire class attended our Positive Skills for a Successful Alverno Experience workshop over the summer,” says Dean of Students Cam Gonzales. “We want the new girls to start school acclimated to the Alverno culture and to feel more self-confident in a new situation.”

The girls discussed Alverno’s mission, which is to empower each young woman to be exactly the person she wants to be. The girls each made a video expressing how she will embody the school’s mission. Lead by a team of sophomores, the girls learned about the school’s founders, its extensive activities program, and how to become involved in school government, which is modeled on the U.S. government. There were sections on study skills and building healthy friendships. The week-long class closed with the girls creating a time capsule to be opened in their senior year.

Cam Gonzales was very happy with the Positive Skills class. “We have the largest number of freshmen ever running for office,” she says. “Because they know more about our government system, they will have a very effective and fun freshman year.”

“We have a tradition of choosing a theme for each year,” says Ann Gillick, Head of School. “The theme for this year is Beyond Borders.  It fit in beautifully with freshman orientation,” she observed, as groups of freshmen rushed about getting mock passports stamped to show that they could find important places on campus.

Frosh Shannon Marks found the study skills part of Positive Skills especially helpful. “ I was worried about how to get organized for block schedule and high school classes,” she says.  “We learned the best way to set up our binders and got some useful note taking tips.”

Ariana Vasquez says Positive Skills and Orientation helped settle her nerves for the first day of high school. “I knew everybody in my class before school even started. I’d met some teachers and I know where things are--and my binders are already all set up.”  Arianna calls herself shy, adding, “I feel a lot more confident and I’m ready to come out of my shell!”