Every year AVID hosts a day where eighth grade students can come and shadow one of the seniors, juniors, or sophomores in the program for the first three periods of the day. This gives the opportunity for the soon to be freshman to get a grasp of the high school life.
Every student has a reason as to why they want to have an eighth grader assigned to them, most want it because they want to help the soon to be freshman experience the daily high school routine.
“It was a great opportunity to let the eighth graders experience high school, so [that] they can be well prepared for when they [start their freshman year],” senior Juan Garcia-Hernadez said.
Although attending high school for three periods may seem scary to the eighth graders, the more important thing for them was to learn the difference from middle school and high school.
“[I have learned that] high school has classes that are more complicated and the school is much bigger,” eighth grader Michael said.
Also even with the differences between the middle school and high school, the eighth graders all have a different opinion on what they are most excited for when they start their first year in high school.
“[I’m looking forward to] the experience [of high school],” eight grader Zachery said.
In the end every high school student has a different experience with their eight grade shadow, whether it be that they didn’t like it because they were to shy, or they had fun and were happy to help the eight graders experience high school just for one day.
“[It was fun] getting to know them, letting them know how teachers [are], [and helping them] experience the passing periods,” Garcia-Hernandez said.
This eighth grade shadow day provides a chance for not only the eighth graders to learn the experience of a high school student, but for current high schoolers to offer up the advice and experience they have accommodated over the last few years.
