On Jan. 31, 2024, Wakeland hosted its annual Rising Freshman Night, to introduce the incoming freshmen to the school and its wide variety of clubs and organizations. This event is a great opportunity to help eighth-graders decide what clubs, sports, and electives to join when they are in high school.

With many different classes at Wakeland, the choices can seem overwhelming to up-and-coming freshmen. To help them narrow down their options, Wakeland allows students and teachers from different classes to “market” their class to the current eighth graders, so they can get involved with things they are interested in.

However, Rising Freshman Night is not limited to classes. Incoming freshmen can also preemptively join any clubs they may be interested in. To entice new people to join their club, current students created slideshows and posters to showcase their club activities.

“I spent a lot of time on my club to prepare for the freshman. I wanted to show them the advantages and benefits of joining, while introducing them to new things, ” Astronomy club president Prisha Sahu said.

By joining these clubs early, incoming freshman can easily make new friends with people who share similar interests and jumpstart their high school social life.

For those interested in joining sports, the events provides an opportunity to meet the Wakeland coaches and their potential team. For example, many football players will be invited to meet with the team for a day and bond with the other players before the season begins.

“Freshman night provides coaches the chance to meet our future athletes and parents, while providing us with an opportunity to explain in more detail what athletics is like at Wakeland,”  Coach Isom said.

While it may take a lot of preparation, Rising Freshman Night is a fun way to introducing eighth graders to the idea of high school, and this year’s event was a smashing success.