Starting the new school year can be hard, especially when students, new and returning, haven’t even set foot in the high school building. Virtual school has been a challenging experience for everyone, from every staff member to every student. Instead of dealing with getting lost in the halls or walking into the wrong class, connectivity issues or some other technology problem arises instead. 

However, despite the chaos, PALs teacher Jared Lippe organized a meeting over Zoom during DEN on Aug. 29 for new students to get to know one another as well as get to know PALs and play games together. 

“Moving to a new school can be such a challenging experience, especially in this season of life right now,” Lippe said. “It is up to us all to continue to create a welcoming environment for everybody and work together to support and encourage our amazing CPHS community together.”

With around a total of 50 people, the Zoom meeting consisted of a few new students as well as PALs members. Activities included watching a Cedar Park hype video, talking to one another in breakout rooms and playing games such as “Would You Rather.” 

“I thought the meeting was really fun,” senior PAL Davis Perron said. “Mr. Lippe always does a great job making these types of events fun and this was no exception. I loved talking to other PALS and getting to know just a few more fun facts about each person.”

The purpose of the meeting was to induce new transfer students to CPHS and hopefully ease their concerns or worries they had about the new year, according to senior PAL Kristen Hines. PALs are meant to be positive people and be a mentor to others, and welcoming new students to the school community is part of their job. 

“[Being a PAL means] you do things to help your community and are always willing to go the extra mile for someone in need,” Hines said. “The purpose of PALs is to spread happiness and positivity through people. We are leaders, and want to make an impact on those around us.”

With a positive experience at the meeting, it has been discussed that there is a possibility of PALs hosting more events similar to this one in the future, but nothing is concrete yet. They would like to do something for the incoming freshmen class as well as for new transfer students.

“[One thing] I do know [is] that PALs are here for all students and our community, and if ideas are presented we will find a way to make it work and have fun while doing so,” Hines said.