Moorestown High School welcomed new students with back-to-back open houses on Aug. 30 and 31.
Senior class President Adam Connor, Senior class vice president Keyan Vojdani and senior class liaison Lucas Megill were all on hand to help students.
“Parents will come in with students or students will come in by themselves; they’ll walk around, they’ll ask us where a specific class is and we’ll point them in that direction,” Megill said. “We pick a station in the school and when we see a lost student along the way, we point them in the right direction.”
“It can definitely be really confusing, because you go from the middle school, which while it’s large is not on the same scale,” Connor said. “It’s easy to get the hang of it once you’ve spent time here, but the first time can be intimidating, so we do our best to not let it be that way.”
“Sometimes students bring their schedules and they trace – go around – their schedule,” Vojdani noted. “And then they also find their homerooms … They also get their laptops as well … Freshmen come and pick up their laptops so it’s like a two-in-one. You come get a tour (and) you pick up your laptop.”
Connor has been a student ambassador for open houses since his sophomore year.
“We do this every year so we make sure that nobody comes in really confused, because we want to make sure that everybody gets the same experience,” he explained. “We just have to make sure that everybody gets acclimated, because even once you’re a sophomore, you already know the ropes, but if you haven’t been here before, or if you’ve only been here a couple of times …
“It’s a big place.”
“It’s sort of a way of getting people prepared for the first day, so they kind of know their schedules and they can walk through their day before they actually get to the first day of school, so they’re not getting lost,” Megill said.
Vojdani, Megill and Connor shared advice they would give new students.
“Don’t be intimidated,” Connor emphasized. “Get out there, join things you’re interested in and don’t be afraid to say hi to people even if you haven’t met them before, because you make some of your best friends in high school.”
“At first, the building might be a little bit intimidating. I know it was for all of us as freshmen, but after two or three weeks, you get the hang of it (and) you get more familiar with it,” Vojdani said.
“Just be open to new advice,” Megill claimed. “Everybody here wants to help you and can help you, and if you go and ask someone for help, they won’t turn you away.”
Freshman Sophia Bahram looks forward to a new school.
“I was a bit worried because it’s such a big school, but in general, I’m excited to see what it’s like and (see) the classes,” she said. “ … I’m just excited to see what it’s like because there’s a lot of activities here, and events that aren’t at the middle school.”
Assistant Principal Don Williams also gave new students advice for their first year.
“Number one – try your best, give it 110 percent,” he said. “Number two – ask questions. Number three – enjoy the experience, because you only go through high school once, and these four years go by extremely quickly.”
