Redwood makes a comeback from Covid-19 with an annual Round-Up and Freshman Orientation

By: Aidan Hatch, Sydney Brammer, and Abigail Miller

Thursday, August 5 was Redwood’s annual round-up for sophomores, juniors, and seniors which gives them the opportunity to pick up their schedules, textbooks, SuperFan shirts, and last year’s yearbook.

Starting at 8 a.m, sophomores with last names A-M and seniors started lining up for their schedules. And then at 9:30, sophomores with last names N-Z and juniors arrived. Redwood ASB was set up at each station working hard to give each student what they needed as fast as they could.

If students weren’t able to attend the round-up, they are able to go to the Redwood Library on Monday, August 9 from 11 a.m to 3:30 p.m; or Tuesday, August 10; or Wednesday, August 11 from 8 a.m to 3:30 p.m to pick up their items.

If students notice their schedules contain errors such as missing classes or classes already taken, they can fill out the form: “Schedule Change Request Form” to get it fixed. Counselors will only use this form to fix schedules.

Samantha Brammer, ’24 is one of the many freshmen with their first year as a Ranger not only being cut short but all the first experiences they were supposed to have, weren’t given. Coming in as a sophomore, Brammer plans on being more “spirited” for future Redwood events, as well as getting more “involved like playing a new sport, or doing a new club.”

Regarding the return to school, Brammer is most looking forward to getting to experience the things that she may have missed her freshman year- such as school dances. Brammer says, “I’m looking forward to seeing my friends every day, and going to more events and dances.”

Lillie Wasam, ’23 is hoping for a sense of normalcy when returning to school. Being one of the many students who chose to stay distance learning while others decided to return in-person last year, Wasam is “looking forward to being back in class” more than ever.

Confronting the inevitable misfortunes that the pandemic has caused, Wasam states, “the setbacks last year helped me have a more positive mindset, so I’m really taking the negatives and trying to see the bright side.”

Bethany Wells, ’22 is expecting the back-to-school adjustment to be “very difficult,” however, she adds, “I think people will be more grateful for the things we have, and still get to do.”

Keeping in mind the setbacks the pandemic has brought upon all students, Wells says, “we [Redwood students] will make sure we learn from them [set-backs] and use what we have to really enjoy school traditions and ultimately, each other.”

For the return of school, Wells is most excited for “hanging with friends again, and going to lunch together.”

The day after, Friday, August 6 was Redwood’s traditional Freshman Orientation where Redwood Link Crew and ASB gave tours of the campus, so freshman can find their classes and become familiar with high school.

Victoria Wall, the Link Crew advisor at Redwood High School, worked with her Link Crew students to ensure that everyone attending Redwood had a positive and safe experience at Freshman Orientation. 

Wall has orchestrated six Freshman Orientations; however, with Covid-19 still being an issue for large gatherings, any gym activity was not an option for her during this year’s Freshman Orientation. Wall adds, “the district made us do smaller groupings so getting them all together in one place at one time was just out of the question.”

With these roadblocks, Wall states, “my brain just went into event-planning mode as I am always kind of in that.” She took time of day, weather, number of students, and efficiency into consideration when scheduling out who should arrive at what time. 

With the lack of activities last year, Wall describes her struggle with finding students who are interested in a class they didn’t even know existed, “We didn’t have applications turned in like we did in years past”. In spite of this, she managed to get nearly one hundred students from Link Crew, ASB, and friends of students in both classes to come out and help during Freshman Orientation. 

Samuel Feierbach, ’25, an incoming freshman, attended Freshman Orientation and has high hopes for this next year.  

He thinks his transition from middle school to high school will be smooth, and he recalls his past experiences to support his thoughts, “I think it’ll be pretty smooth because elementary school to middle school wasn’t really that hard.” Feierbach believes that his transition into high school will be just another step into his future. 

For this upcoming year, he is most excited to start his high school water polo career. In addition, he has already set some goals for his freshman year, “It’s pretty simple and straight out, but not to fail… Math is a little bit of a struggle, so I’m going to try not to fail math.”

During Freshman Orientation, the most helpful thing for Feierbach was being shown where all of the buildings were, “I was on campus a few weeks ago. I knew the general layout, but I didn’t know like where English and Science were.” Exploring the campus has helped him prepare for his first day of school. 

Marileigh Coon, ’25 and Gwyn Miller, ’25 are also two incoming freshmen that are excited to start off their first year in high school. 

They both think that the transition from an online setting to an in-person school year will work out just fine. Coon states, “it’s definitely a little nerve racking, but I think it will go smoother than we think because we’re all ready to get back to school.” Miller adds to this by saying, “I think it’ll be nice to be back and get to some kind of normalcy.” 

Since both students made the Redwood Dance Force for their freshman year, they are mostly excited to get out and dance. Miller says, “I’m probably looking forward to having some football games that I can dance at… and getting to know more people.” Coon agrees with her, and thinks it’ll be a fun and positive experience. 

Miller states that she, “now knows where the Science buildings are, and [she] knows that you cannot walk on the left side of the bridge if you’re going up.” In addition, Freshman Orientation has taught her where to find her classes and that she can always ask someone if she needs to. 

Coon also, “learned about more classes on [Sierra] Vista because I haven’t been over there that much, so that was helpful.” 

Tags: abigail miller, aidanhatch, freshman orientation, news, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, round-up, schedules, sydneybrammer, textbooks