DUNROBIN – The West Carleton Secondary School (WCSS) Link Crew threw a huge Grade 9 birthday bash last Tuesday (March 3) to help Grade 9s feel more welcome in the high school community.

Grade 9 students gathered in the WCSS cafeteria to partake in activities such as dancing, having juice boxes, hitting a pinata for candy and terrorizing extremely patient senior students with plates full of whipped cream to the face.

“I think it’s nice how they’re letting us pie the leaders,” Grade 9 student Sam Diotte said. “It shows how much the school cares about us and wants us to have fun.”

The WCSS Link Crew is a club of senior students who take on the task of introducing Grade 9s to their new high school lives each year.

“We mostly plan activities and help support the school and the Grade 9s,” Link Crew member Elora told West Carleton Online.

Major events include touring incoming Grade 8 students around WCSS and conducting a Grade 9 orientation at the beginning of the school year, with smaller events being interspersed around the rest of the year to keep up the positive energy.

“We all work together, and we want to make it a big event the Grade 9s will love,” Link Crew member Akhila Sundaran said. “They get a chance to connect to the seniors and they also get a chance to be a part of the whole high school community.”

Grade 9 Eden Haley spoke positively about Link Crew’s efforts to connect to new students.

“I think high school isn’t as bad as some people make it out to be,” she said. ‘They’re doing a really good job.”