'You Are Now in High School': CHS Seniors Give Advice

Remember how awkward and uncomfortable the transition from middle school to high school was? (For some of us, anyway.)

Well, Cinnaminson school officials do. So, several years ago high school principal Darlene Llewellyn started having graduating seniors write letters to the following year's incoming freshman describing their high school experiences as a means of calming their younger classmates' nerves.

"Going from a middle school to a high school, that can be a pretty challenging experience," said Superintendent Salvatore Illuzzi. "Anytime you have a movement (from one building to another), it's incumbent on the school district to make that as comfortable for the students as possible."

The idea of the letters, he said, is to "ease the transition from one level to the next. Who better to do that than the graduating class?"

The high school page on the district website lists nearly a dozen letters from seniors, with words of wisdom such as:

"No more calling your mom when you forgot your lunch. No more 35-minute lunch period, followed by a 15-minute recess. No more washing tables and switching roles on who takes out the trash. No more waiting for your assigned bus to be called. You are now in high school."

"My first piece of advice is to get involved. I was always told by my father, 'You get out what you put in.' I have listened to that my whole time at CHS and I am very grateful for it."

"You need to live it up, but at the same time you really need to concentrate on your grades. That’s all what school is about; getting good grades and moving onto the next level. High school will prepare you for the next steps of life."

Illuzzi said there's very little editorial overview of the letters—aside from proofreading for inappropriate content—and they simply allow the students to speak for themselves.

It's not a requirement to write (or read) the letters, he said. "But most of them participate because they get a real charge out of it."

The district promotes a similar activity at Rush Intermediate School, where fifth grade students leaving the school are encouraged to write letters to their eighth grade selves, which they then open upon entering eighth grade.

"(It shows them) things they thought were important in fifth grade are obviously much different in eighth grade," said Illuzzi. 

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