Abington High’s ABC (Anti-Bullying Club) was more than excited to host the New Student Transition Breakfast in the high school cafeteria on Tuesday, Oct. 16.  The ten members of the ABC got to meet new students.

The ABC’s mission is to “welcome new students, eliminate bullying, and do random acts of kindness,” according to Mr. Lanner, the advisor of the club.

At the breakfast, everyone sat down and enjoyed sandwiches, fruits, and juices. As part of the conversation around the tables, each ABC member asked questions and talked to the new students. The goal was to help them feel welcome and excited to continue this academic year at AHS, enriching their school experiences.

Questions were asked about their life before Abington and what their future plans are for attending clubs or sports. They were also asked for their opinion on ways to improve our school.

Each ABC member was paired with a new student. Each group at a table discussed questions and sometimes topics would wander off-topic. Those conversations were the best at creating bonds and fun-filled discussion.  

The new students were diverse. Some were from far away areas like Kansas and North Carolina, while some were from foreign countries like Portugal and Brazil.Others were from nearby towns, like incoming freshman Aaron Gravelle, who moved from Randolph. Gravelle said he enjoyed the breakfast and that it “was fun and interesting.”

New students Ava Hajjar (’19) and Caitlin Malone (’21) sat with ABC members Daisy Dos-Santos Ribeiro, Rachel Barrett, and Lauren Nelligan. Both Hajjar and Malone transferred from South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School (VoTech). Both students compared the VoTech to the high school and agreed that “having more new classes rather than shop where we were working with tools hands on was a hard adjustment.” They also said that there were fewer academic classes at VoTech and that they were longer than the 42 minute classes here at Abington High. Both girls agreed that adjusting to the classes has been a bit confusing for them.

Hajjar and Malone are in different classes from students in their grades in order to catch up on subjects their old school didn’t have. “Understanding other ways new teachers teach and getting to know all the new teachers” has been a struggle for Hajjar. However, she and Malone said they both felt right at home right from the beginning.

Both Hajjar and Malone live in Abington, so moving school locations wasn’t too hard for them. On the other hand, Ella Hughes (’21), moved here from Topeka, Kansas due to her father changing jobs. Hughes has also lived in Nebraska and Washington. Her old school in Kansas City was “bigger, with 700 students in my grade level.” Although her old school had more students and was larger, she said that Abington High is a much newer and modern school. Hughes has thoughts about joining the basketball program soon and gave us ideas about having more clubs that her other school had, such as a Sign Language Club. 

After the discussions and meal, the new students were given a chance to have a brief tour around the school with the ABC members, seeing places they had not yet seen like the auditorium, gym, and middle school cafeteria area. Along the way, they visited the seminar room, as well as the nurse’s office. They had no clue as to where those places were located.

It was a enlightening breakfast, meeting new people and hearing their stories in order to make our school even better. We look forward to hearing more great stories about the new students and sharing our memories with you.

For any student who would like to join the ABC, don’t hesitate to reach out to Mr. Lanner at [email protected]

Correction: In a previous edition, it was incorrectly stated that Ella Hughes was from Kansas City.