Smells like teen spirit? On Oct. 14, 2020, WHS held their annual freshman orientation. Despite the global pandemic, administrators have taken every precaution needed to be safe and have fun. An estimate of over 130 freshmen attended the orientation and 10 cat pack leaders. The orientation had begun a little afternoon, with three groups of freshmen throughout the day. The festivities ended in the late afternoon, with the weather in great condition. The leaders and supervisors could not enter the building, for the safety of the faculty and freshmen going in and out of the building. 

Following past experiences, the leaders had gone on to participate in a few friendly activities, while trying to keep six feet apart and not form clusters of students. The activities included greeting new students across from you in line formation and telling them precisely what you did yesterday, what worries you about high school, etc. “Cat Pack is our student leadership/school spirit/freshmen transition group. We try to do our best to help build school spirit and culture in our building as well as help transition our freshmen students from 8th grade into our Wheeling High School culture and community. Everyone is in the same boat with the time period. We are all doing the best we can and I think that Freshmen Orientation was a fun, educational, and welcoming experience for our incoming class of 2024,” Thomas Antosz, social science teacher, said. 

Later on, a math game took place. This game involved two students, the pair had to face each other and hide their hands behind their backs. On the count of three, they both had to reveal the number of fingers they chose to put up. The goal was to add the total number combined between both partners; whoever answered it correctly, won! Coming down to the final game, the group played People, Tigers, and Cages. “The game is like Rock, Paper, Scissors, but on steroids,” Antosz said. The participation of the Class of 2024 seemed to have gone off with a hit, of course, don’t just take my word for it. “There were three rotations, with each one having the same activities. Mr. Antosz introduced the cat pack leaders as well as the sponsors. We then had the class of 2024 learn more about their peers and us as well. Each Cat Pack leader had their own little group of freshmen to interact with and play games with. The freshmen also had a chance to learn about the opportunities Wheeling had to offer. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from freshmen orientation this year but I believe it went great,” Ailyn Reyes, senior, said.

At the end of the day, the Cat Pack supervisors had said a few words of inspiration for the freshmen, along with explaining why the cat pack leaders were handpicked and diversely involved at WHS. CatPack and faculty believe this year’s orientation, despite setbacks, was a success. After all, the freshmen are the future of WHS.