On Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the main gym, Southwest will hold a Future Hawk Night to give information to current eighth graders. Incoming students can check out all of the clubs, activities, courses and athletics that Southwest has to offer and express interest in the things they want to participate in. Along with this, there will also be performances from the pep band, cheer and the Emeralds to showcase the talent that the school has to offer.
“Pep band performs to show the incoming freshmen one of the things that you can do at this school and the communities that are here to make them feel welcome,” sophomore Kieston Delka. “We play pep music all the time so we have a lot of practice for this performance.”
There will also be booths set up in the commons and the media center by the different clubs, activities, courses, and athletics that LSW offers. This helps current eighth graders see every opportunity that they can take advantage of at LSW.
“The high school open houses are for students to decide which high school they want to attend,” Mr. Matthew Heimes said. “Having extracurricular activities is pretty important as many kids pick a school based on those opportunities.”
Schools show all possible opportunities for students at their open houses so the current eighth graders can make a decision they are happy with for their high school career. Current eighth graders are able to choose their high school due to the School of Choice Initiative.
“Research shows that being involved in at least one extracurricular activity improves student attendance and achievement,” Heimes said. “For many kids, the activities are what connects them to the school and help them find and build great friendships, along with important life skills.”
At Future Hawk Night, current eighth graders will express their interests in extracurriculars so they can receive more information throughout the year about them. Then, as they get more information, they can make a final decision about the activities they expressed their interest in. This ensures that students are given enough information to decide which communities they want to be involved in.
