Every student at Nova has experienced the orientation process; it’s a requirement to be enrolled at this school. An orientation is an eighth grader’s first taste of what education is like at Nova, and our goal is to make sure that they see or feel that there will be a place here for them to learn and grow. The people behind the orientations, tours, and the annual Exhibition Night is the student-run Recruitment Committee. I’m sure you have witnessed the frenzied and frazzled members running around the school right before an orientation, or the calm and collected tour leaders. Either way, these students are responsible for representing and properly educating people about Nova.
So, what happens when an orientee doesn’t feel welcome at our school? Do they find another school or take a chance on our small community, hoping to find their space? Luckily a few students did take that chance and brought it up with Recruitment. Now the committee that was stretched to a mere six people, has inflated to fifteen. With the help of principal Mark Perry, we are attempting to rediscover how to truthfully paint a picture of what life is like at Nova. Are we free of cliques and social hierarchy? No. Are students given absolute freedom? No. But, are we more so when compared to other schools? Most would say yes. So why have we been boasting of a footloose atmosphere with equal respect among our strong community when it’s not completely true? We want people to love our school just as much as we do, but somewhere along the line our selling spiel became stodgy and repetitious. We had lost the lively spirit of orientations and prospective students.
Recriutment Committee has been having a discussion on what we want orientees to understand about our school, which resulted in similar answers such as that there is freedom, but that is not synonymous for cutting class and passing anyway; there is equal respect among students and teachers which means that you have to respect them as well; and that although there is drama, we have an extremely caring community. We’ve also been putting ourselves in their shoes, and trying to figure what they want to know: such as our discipline system, how GPAs work, and what on Earth is up with Wednesdays. With every answer, Mark responds with the same question, “And what does that look like?”
As a part of the Nova community, what do you feel should be understood by potential students? What would your ideal orientation look like?
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