Before school even began, Harker’s newest lower school students in grades 3-5 were made to feel welcome at a couple of  buddy parties held in August.

The idea was simple: to introduce the newcomers to their classmates, allowing them to make new friends while gaining insight into what elementary school life at Harker would be like.

Nicole Brink, counselor for this age group onsite at the Bucknall campus, noted there was a pool party for the new grade 4-5 students and their buddies, and an arts and crafts project event for the third graders.

Brink, who supervised the grade 4-5 party, said, “They did a scavenger hunt to learn how to navigate the campus and then we had the pool party where they splashed around and had fun getting to know each other. We ended with some yummy popsicles and popcorn.”

For each group, buddies are specifically trained on how to mentor and help make their new classmates feel welcome.

Additionally, there were other start-of-the-year welcome events affording new and returning students the opportunity to get to know one another, including an elementary school-age barbecue and welcome to kindergarten barbecue held on the playground.