MSJ Link Crew Successfully Launches First Ever Shadow Month

By Staff Writers Ariel Duong & Kaiwei Parks

Fifteen William Hopkins Middle School eighth-graders were guided to MSJ by Counselor Amalia Kim to participate in MSJ Link Crew’s newest project. Introduced and spearheaded by Sophomore Megha Vashisht, Shadow Month marks a major collaboration between administrators at MSJ and Hopkins to provide incoming freshmen a preview of MSJ’s culture, everyday life, and routine.  

Inspired by Irvington High School’s shadowing program, Vashisht aimed to implement her own initiative to ease any apprehension regarding the transition into high school and ease the visiting eighth-graders into a new environment. “[I shadowed] someone from Irvington. I was like, ‘This would be fun to carry over to MSJ because I know eighth-graders are pretty terrified,’” Vashisht said. Having organized the program for several years, Irvington’s shadow event takes place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two weeks. With this blueprint in mind, Vashisht pitched her plan to Principal Amy Perez and received an overwhelmingly positive response. “Mrs. Bonomo … and Mrs. Perez were absolutely supportive,” Yearbook Teacher Rachel Tevlin said. With logistical planning in mind, Perez guided Vashisht to collaborate with MSJ Link Crew toward implementation, considering MSJ Link Crew’s role in guiding freshmen through their first year in high school. Finally, it was up to Hopkins administrators to give

the green light for the event. With widespread approval from MSJ, Kim believed the program would greatly benefit eighth-graders’ transition. “I was excited to figure out how we can make this work,” Kim said.

However, administrators soon encountered several hiccups that forced strict changes to be made to the program. On MSJ’s end, some teachers were not in favor of bringing Hopkins students into their classrooms during instructional time. Meanwhile, due to the fear that eighth grade students would be bored shadowing from first to sixth period, the event time was cut in half, with shadowing only taking place from read to lunch. On the other end of planning, Hopkins administrators had to receive approval for the event to be deemed an official field trip, collect paperwork for medication, and address safety concerns. Continued restrictions forced Vashisht and Link Crew to reduce the number of Hopkins students from 200 to fewer than 40. All parties understood this back-and-forth between Hopkins admin, MSJ admin, Link Crew, and Vashisht to be necessary. “You have to realize with the pilot program … you have to start small, and then you can … scaffold it to [be] larger,” Tevlin said.  

 

During the event itself, Hopkins students walked across the two fields separating the Hopkins and MSJ campuses with Kim to the Wellness Center, where they listened to further instructions given by the Wellness Center advisor, Jennifer Yen. As break began, MSJ Link Leaders met up with their Hopkins students, and either guided them to the library or College and Career Center on a short tour. Afterward, Hopkins students accompanied their MSJ leaders through third period, fourth period, and lunch, where they could participate in class lessons, speak with MSJ students, and ask questions regarding MSJ culture and usual class activities. “[My MSJ leader] Adrit has been super cool … he’s been showing me around everywhere,” Hopkins student Aditya Madhavani said. 

Following the two successive weeks of shadowing, both Hopkins students and administrators realized the event had been extremely successful. “I think it was beyond my expectation of just a very dry shadow day,” Kim said. Overall, MSJ leaders agreed that Shadow Month made students feel far more comfortable about their future at MSJ. “[Shadow Month] is an experience, and nothing beats experience because they get to go with people and see like how it is to go between classes, time management, walking from one period to another, meeting teachers,” Junior Link Leader Aanya Patel said.

Moving forward, Vashisht hopes to collaborate further with MSJ Link Crew and administration to allow for more students to shadow for longer durations to meet the high interest and demand for shadow days. In response to these new ideas for next year, teachers and staff are worried about the seating availability for the influx of students they are challenged to accommodate in their classrooms. However, to combat this, Tevlin wishes to extend the program over a period of eight weeks to keep it to below 30 students per day to accommodate more students. To better streamline the process and combat any pressing issues, both Vashisht and Tevlin aim to begin preparations earlier in the year. “We are planning it in October of next year, [so] we’ll have Link Crew and utilize a group of students who’ve already just helped with orientation and should have good ideas,” Tevlin said. 

With the introduction of the new Shadow Program, some students were concerned about the responsibilities they would have to undertake as leaders and the impression they may leave on an incoming student. However, the project coordinators want to remind students that the experience isn’t a unilateral experience but the formation of an irreplicable bond between two students. “It’s a great example to remind yourself of how much you’ve grown and changed from when you were an eighth-grader to now, and also to understand that you’re going to be facing a similar transition [later on],” Tevlin said.