This year was the fourth anniversary of the Freshmen Dinner, where ninth graders meet with their date or friends at the Coosa Country Club to take pictures, and afterwards eat dinner before being transported to the AJ Huffman ’67 Memorial Building for the dance, which took place in the wrestling room. The event is one of the first major social gatherings of the school year, giving students a reason to dress up, relax, and celebrate outside of a classroom environment. This event has provided the opportunity for freshmen to come together and create friendships and bonds. Freshman Neelley Jordan shares the potential for friendships and connections at the Freshmen Dinner.
“I think we become more connected in events like this because we get to interact with each other and we are all together,” Jordan said. “Especially because it is outside of school and at school we do not really connect with new people or get to know them as much because we are just with our friends and not meeting new people that much.”
The Freshman Dinner is also a chance for students to go and take pictures at the Coosa Country Club while also eating dinner. Freshman Jaetyn Mazzo shares the experience he had at the Freshman Dinner.
“It was pretty nice, it was very fancy and set up where we could enjoy it, the pictures on the side were very nice and they turned out great,” Mazzo said. “Also, the food was really good, we ate at the Country Club and then went to the dance, my favorite part was probably the cookies.”
As well as eating and going to meet new people, freshmen get to dress formally and experience Homecoming for the first time. For many students, this marks a milestone in their high school experience, helping them feel more connected to the traditions and community of the school. Freshman Barrett Woods shares how his experience was getting to go to Homecoming for the first time.
“It was good to get formal and be with my friends for Homecoming, I really liked dressing up and taking pictures with my friends and just being there because it was a good experience,” Woods said. “It feels great to get around other students and party with them at the dance too because you do not get to be around seniors and juniors and sophomores that much so it felt good to be around the other people.”