Four years. Four years of time between the simplicity of middle school and the imminent reality of adulthood. These four years of high school are a time to learn about ourselves, our world, and skills that will carry us into the future.

Year one. Freshmen are just putting their foot into the door of high school. This is the year that the four-year cumulative measure- the GPA- is created and one’s high school career truly begins.

Last school year, Assistant Principal Matthew Starks, who oversees freshman, created the Freshman Navigators Program to aid freshmen struggling in their classes. The goal of the program is to get freshmen back on the right track to graduate in four years.

Teachers identify students who they believe may benefit from the program. Those students are then assigned to the Freshman Navigators, like Spanish teacher Amy Roberts.

“I definitely feel like it is going to be a really good program… I’m not giving them any consequences, so there’s nothing punitive coming from me. I’m making a relationship with these kids and just trying to see how I can help them be successful,” Roberts said.

The navigator’s goal is to help get their freshmen on the right track by supporting them and teaching them strategies for success.

“Ms. Mintken helped me with the motivation of getting a reward like candy. Ms. Roberts helped me think of how I could stay after school or seek out help when I need it instead of not asking even when I do need it,” sophomore Layla Purdy said.

One drawback of the program is the limited number of meeting times between navigators and their students.

“It’s hard to take our students from a class, especially when they are struggling in the class. I don’t feel good about that,” Roberts said. “The biggest hurdle right now is making a relationship with them in such a short amount of time that we can pull them out of class and feel good about pulling them out of class.”

Students form relationships with their Navigators, which often carry through their freshman year.

“I feel like Ms. Roberts really helped me. We’re like besties,” Purdy said.

The program is meant to help students improve grades and teach them how to be successful in high school, but it is also about knowing that they have a friend.

“I think it’s definitely a work in progress, but I’m certain it’s going to make an impact on some of the kids we’re working with, and I hope it does,” Roberts said. “If nothing else, they know that there’s an adult that isn’t a teacher that they can trust, and I think every student needs that.”