Link Crew: Everything you need to know about Link Crew

Link crew applications are due Monday 22. Hear from Link Leaders and a Link Crew coordinator to learn more about the program.

“Link Crew is a program; it’s not unique to East — Shawnee Mission Northwest has it, Shawnee Mission South also has it and other school districts around the country have Link Crew. It’s run by a company called the Boomerang Project. It’s a program to orient students to the school but not just show them around the building, it’s to orient them to the physical space, orient them to the culture of the school, how we interact, how we behave, how we treat each other, what are some of the traditions like. They can learn the school song or [the] pep club will do some chants. It’s kind of like an inculturation into life at East.”

“We didn’t get to do one last year, obviously because of COVID. We don’t know if we’re going to be able to do it this year … Normally, it’s the first Friday or the second Friday of the school year. It’s in the cafeteria. I don’t know what it is that people love about [it] so much, but people always say it’s the best dance of high school, even including prom. I mean, I shouldn’t say that because I don’t want to knock prom, but people love it and here’s why I think they love it: It’s casual and the expectations are low, and we expect you to have good behavior when you’re here, but you don’t have to go out and buy a fancy dress, you don’t have to come with a date, there’s no corsage or boutonniere — all those things that feel like a big risk to some people. There’s none of that. You just come as you are. I don’t think the freshmen realize at the time, but it’s like their, obviously the first school dance, but it’s their orientation to East school dances like how do we dance, how do we hang out, what do we do, what are the songs everybody wants to sing along to, that sort of thing. So they learn a little bit about what dance is like. It’s fun, it’s ridiculous, it’s pretty good.”

“We have a two-day orientation, and we follow the orientation that the Boomerang Project recommends. The others might say something else, but to me, it’s like three pieces of the pie. One is for the Link Leaders to form their own communities so they get to know each other, develop strong communication skills, teamwork skills, leadership skills, among themselves too. [The second piece is,] we try to update them to what the range of freshmen experiences might look like — what it looks like when someone is struggling and scared, what it looks like when somebody is ready to take on the world. You’re dealing with those two extremes and everything in between. The third thing we try to train everybody on is probably where we spend the bulk of our time and energy, which is preparing them to lead the freshmen through the freshmen-only day and all of those activities.”

“I think a lot of people assume that we have a certain type of person in mind — somebody who is involved with everything, somebody who has perfect grades, none of that is true and here’s why. The freshman class is very diverse. They’re diverse in terms of their abilities, their interests, the things they are involved in, their family background, the language they might speak at home, their ethnic background. Our goal is to have a Link Crew that’s representative of the freshman class, so every member of the freshman class can see themselves in a role model. We’re not looking for a specific type. We look at the resume and a cover letter, and we want to see somebody, I would say above all else, who actually cares. They care about others. They show empathy. They care about our school. They want our school to be a welcoming place. They want freshmen to feel welcomed and cared about. That I think is most important.” 

“Applications close on Monday [March 22]. And we get a lot of applications, and our applications are pretty qualitative. We have to read about students learning experiences service experiences, aspirations, clubs, groups and teams they’ve been involved in and that takes time. We determined how many Link Leaders we have based on the size of the incoming freshmen class because we try to maintain a certain ratio. So first, we have to figure out the size of the freshman class and how many Link Leaders we’re looking for. I’d say second week of April might be a little optimistic, third week of April is probably more realistic.”

“Honestly, this is the English teacher in me, but if there’s errors, it’s not that I can’t stand errors, but it sometimes tells us did they spend enough time on this? How much do you care about this? Do you care enough about this to write it the night before in a rush, or do you care enough about this to get started way in advance, revise it, maybe have somebody look at it for you if you want to? 

Everybody makes mistakes, I’m not going to mark somebody down because they spelled a word wrong, but we want to see that people are taking time and care with their application. I would recommend take time and don’t make it a rush job the night before. Sometimes we can’t tell that somebody did it last minute, and sometimes it’s very obvious. So, take your time on the application.”

“Oh my gosh, I love the Link Crew. I’m not gonna say one thing, I’m gonna say two things. First of all, I love being a part of the Link Crew team of coordinators. We have a good time together. It is such a high functioning team. We all work very hard to do well. We rely on each other. Everyone does their part. 

The more diplomatic answer I think that I should say is that, and sharing my own experience from the past, I was a very confused freshman. I was the oldest in my family and my parents were really disconnected from the school. I was back and forth between two households, because my parents were divorced. I was confused, overwhelmed, it felt pretty lonely. For me, it’s a culture building enterprise in that the culture that we want to see in a typical East student, Link Crew is one way to transmit that culture — a group is representative of all of the members that make it up. So, every member of the freshman class is important.”

“My entrance into high school was a little uneasy. I felt lost between the shuffle between middle school and high school and wanted a place to belong and understand individuals, and the upperclassmen. My Link Leaders were able to help me acknowledge my strengths and my weaknesses, and explore new avenues, whether that was joining clubs, activities, sports, whatever it was — so that I could branch out. As a result of having that non-traditional experience, I am able to better relate to the underclassmen coming into East.”

“Compassion for others, being able to understand situations, the background of students and meeting them where they are in their life, whether they’ve undergone hardships or whether they’re trying to feed a balance in their schoolwork. In addition to open mindedness, the experience is not a one-fits-all kind of program, you’re going to deal with students with many different responses to high school, and you don’t know what they may be experiencing outside of the high school day. Being able to relate to students regardless of your own biases regardless of your own experiences, but being able to take what you’ve learned and apply it to multiple different situations.”

“I believe that it gives the in-coming students a better idea of what to expect while in high school. With pop culture, they paint this idealistic persona of what high school is meant to be especially from the perspective of a world that it does not exist whatsoever. Having Link Leaders let’s students know that they have a voice, especially with upperclassmen, it let’s them integrate better with their peers. Even though you may have some courses that are primarily with your grade, you’re still going to have other experiences, whether that’s in sports, and you have to be able to relate to other groups of individuals regardless of age or background. The program also helps students be sure that they have a person who has resources, whether that’s a tutor for a class or information pertaining to dates and times, and even someone to just talk to you about meaningless information. It can be multiple things for many different people, it can be a friendship, it can be a learning opportunity, it can be whatever those upperclassmen are looking for, the Link Leader is there to provide a sense of community and understanding.”

“Individuals will take what they need from you, and be willing to understand your role, but they don’t always need you. It’s just like, you don’t always need your parents to be there to hold your hand, but you do need them in some situations — Link Leaders are there to help you regardless. But sometimes there are students that don’t need you, and you have to be okay with that. The Link Leader program helps students transition who are having difficulty with that transition, but there are plenty that are able to integrate without the help of them. The program is there to be beneficial to the students, and you get out of it what you put into it.”

“I would have to say the Link Crew dance. As a result of COVID-19, we weren’t able to have it this year, but the Link Crew dance is a great opportunity for students to let go of those pressures that have to do with the school environment. You’re able to celebrate going into a new school year, and you’re also able to see another side of your Link Leaders that isn’t completely structured. I also really enjoyed those days where we were going through training and playing games with one another, and all of the Link Leaders are very much interconnected. We talk about all kinds of different things and we’re able to relate to one another, especially even if they aren’t your own Link Leader you can definitely talk to any of the others, who’ll give you a similar account.”

“The training days were a combination of games, activities and personality analysis, understanding the personalities of not only your fellow Link Leaders, but also students they may encounter and being able to understand and empathize with individuals. During that time when we’re playing games that we’re going to play on their first day of school, that are activities, ways in which you can truly understand a person and chip away at the shell. And on those days we also figure out who our partner is going to be the other fellow Link Leader that is going to help you navigate your 10-12 incoming freshmen, go through activities and that exciting first day of school where you’re all piled into the gymnasium and going through Mr. Foley’s shenanigans, just experiencing. So what to expect for that first day of school is mainly what we go through on those training days.”

“I remember it as if it were yesterday. And I remember how understanding they were and how, in some ways they were just as nervous as I was. They are teenagers, just like we are and are not there to act like a figurehead or anything but are there to provide advice and to understand who you are as a human being. A lot of games, talking about classes and what teachers, and navigating the building in order to know where you should go at a certain time. But overall, the main thing that I took away from them was even after that first day of high school, I would get calls from them, or even a text like, “Hey how are you doing. I saw you around campus, and I just want to make sure that you’re doing all right.” Just the little things really helped in the long run and even being able to go and see them graduate was very fulfilling. It was a partnership where you get the benefit out of it, regardless of what you put into it. But even if you reach out, you’re going to receive something. So Link Leaders are all hand-picked, they’re involved in so many different activities and are great human beings overall.”

“My older sister was a Link Crew Leader, and I just thought it was really cool and I wanted to get involved, and my Link Crew Leaders were super cool and fun and so I wanted to to be like that.”

“I think [I learned] a lot of leadership experience because it was kind of the first time I was put into a role where I was in charge of a bunch of kids younger than me and was in charge of teaching them about the school and really being a part of a big day for them.”

“I just remember having two girls and they were just super fun and they just got us all hyped up as kind of quiet freshmen. So, I just remember having a bunch of fun with them and the people in my group, and getting to tour the school and play games in our room. So it was super fun.”

“It was super fun. I’m super sad that this year wasn’t normal because my junior year, it was a blast, but the leadership training was super fun because you just got to learn how to play all the games with a bunch of the other Link Crew Leaders and form relationships there. And it was also just super cool to be a leader because that’s not an opportunity you get all the time, it makes you feel kind of old. But it’s also cool because I still talk to some of my kids in my Link Crew group, some of the younger kids, so it’s super cool to kind of see where they go.”

“I think it was two days. Kind of all day, but we just learned how to play the games that we play during the first day of school, and just kind of learn how to approach the freshmen and get them excited.”

“I just think someone [who is] super outgoing and has a bunch of school spirit because I think the most important part is kind of just getting the freshmen excited for the next four years. So it’s just a leader, and just someone that is just willing to put themselves out there and kind of embarrass themselves a little bit just for the freshmen.”

“The Link Crew dance is definitely my favorite. We didn’t have it this year, but it was the best night ever. And you get to dance around in the cafeteria and dress up for the theme and just be stupid and have so much fun.”