Freshman Jump Start had a reboot at Central this summer, and over 200 students participated. 

Freshman Jump Start is a program built on the idea of easing the transition between middle and high school. For more than a few years, Jump Start was held at the OPS middle schools and was at Lewis and Clark in 2022, according to Benjamin Boeckman, a social studies teacher and director of the program last year. 

The program made its return to Central after being canceled due to COVID-19 and held in middle schools for a few years due to ongoing construction at Central. Despite being a generally small program, this year, over 200 students showed up – around a third of the entire freshman body. 

Matthew Hamill, a science teacher and director for the project, said in an interview with The Register that information about Jump Start was sent out on time and that there were some issues with consistent updates, but “…other than that, we did a good job of promoting it and getting that information.” 

While attending, students did activities to build school pride like learning the fight song, learning the layout of the building, and setting light academic goals – although it had “very little academic focus,” Hamill said. 

Jump Start is about the students getting to know one another and meeting new people, Hamill said. “For us, it’s entirely about, almost entirely about, building community and helping this incoming freshman class feel more comfortable,” he said. “And hopefully it’s not just, ‘Oh, I went to middle school with that person.’ They start to find some people that they have some common shared interests with.” 

Virginia Arce Garcia and Chloe Schwartz – two freshmen who participated in the program – said that Jump Start helped with their transition to high school. 

“I’ve got friends from it – well, not friends, but I’m familiar with people from it,” Garcia said.  

“Yeah, it made me much more comfortable with the school,” Schwartz said. 

Hamill also credits Molly Madison, Martha Omar and Michelle Sueck – other Central teachers and major contributors to the program – for the success of this year’s Jump Start.