The 2017-2018 school year is officially in full swing. However, before the year started, the Marauder Mentors hosted their annual kick-off to welcome the new freshman.
Brianna Franke, 11, said, “The Mentoring program is beneficial for both the freshmen and the mentor. We form friendships while setting the freshman up for a positive and successful first year of high school.”

The mentors started the summer with their own leadership kick-off. On June 7th, Ted Wiese, who is a motivational speaker, came to Mt. Vernon and helped the mentors learn how to engage with the freshman on kick-off day.

After that, the mentors met again on July 24th for the pre-kick off day. This is where they were assigned their classrooms to host their groups in, and on this day they prepared the rooms for the Freshman Kick-Off.

The Marauder Mentor Freshman Kick-Off was on July 25th. The students were able to bond with some of the upperclassman and their own classmates through games, dancing, and getting their schedules.

Kaira Carter, 9, said, “[The kick-off] was a very motivating beginning to the year that welcomed incoming freshmen with open arms. However, I believe that it would have been a lot better if we and the seniors took more time to go over where the classes would be located. Besides that, I must admit that it was an overall positive experience.”

After a day full of preparation, the kick-off came to a close with the dance competition. Each team went to the gym with their team posters and competed to win the dance competition with their own original choreography. This year the “Shakers” won because of their electric energy and trick-filled routine.  

Watch the “Shakers” win the dance competition: https://drive.google.com/a/mvcsc.k12.in.us/file/d/0BxTfhI4EmZ7VS3NKRGp1QUs3azg/view?usp=sharing