Rancocas Valley Regional High School held an open house for the incoming class of 2028 on January 10 in the cafeteria, PAC, gym, E-131 and various classrooms. These rooms housed clubs, performances and presentations, sports teams, class of 2028 T-shirts and department specific overview lessons, respectively.
Current eighth grade students and their parents or guardians from each sending district were encouraged to attend. Attendees largely populated the PAC to view informational presentations regarding the school processes as well as performances by the choir, dance team, step team, and RV marching band amongst others.
“We are trying to increase our dance technique class [for] which you don’t have to have any dance experience,” said RV senior and Dance Team Captain Savanna Riddick. “[Regarding] sign-ups for [Dance Team] tryouts we usually do get a pretty good amount of people.”
Such is the case across the majority of clubs, sports and classes as the Eighth Grade Parent Night allows the members of these activities to organize performances or posters to provide information and awareness to the incoming freshmen. Many groups find Eighth Grade Parent Night essential in maintaining the nature of their group.
“In ROTC, we have a lot of problems with recruit[ment] and retention, said ROTC Executive Officer and RV senior Sean Powell. “We need to maintain a size of 150 or more cadets at all times…” to be considered a battalion and receive the benefits of that title.
“Showing [eighth graders] actually what we do instead of just talking about it really gets them involved because they see…” the level of enthusiasm, said Lyndsey Finsen, Choir Officer, Co-President of FBLA, and Vice President of Thespian Society. Finsen herself did improv games with a few eighth graders to involve them further.
Finsen stated that the incoming freshmen typically are nervous on arrival to put themselves out into the clubs and culture of RV, but the presentations and information given at Eighth Grade Parent Night help diffuse that nervousness by showing it is not as intimidating as it seems to get involved in numerous activities.
That notion rang true for prospective student Ariana Premdas, who, after viewing the Step Teams performance, indicated her interest in “the stepping group and volleyball.”
Lauren Premdas, Ariana’s mother said “[she] was very happy to see the diverse groups and club organizations” and that the school had come a long way from 1998 when she graduated from RV. “It’s good for [students] to be able to see the campus and get familiar before she actually comes here.”
RV’s annual 8th Grade Parent night was a success, offering the class of 2028 the opportunity to get hands-on experience, preparing them to start imagining their life as freshman this fall.
