Year after year, the Bolles School’s very own Senior women host “Girls Night In” while the Senior men host the “Boys Bulldog Experience”, both evenings dedicated to aiding newly arriving freshmen girls and boys through the ins and outs of a high school existence. This year, both the Senior Women and Senior Men as well as their corresponding counselors have been diligently preparing for the two evenings.

“Every Wednesday during activities until school ends the girls and I meet to plan a number of activities. The girls split into their subcommittees that focus on one particular activity such as the scavenger hunt, the day-in-the-life video, and the fashion show,” said Katie Cussen, upper school guidance counselor and overseer of “Girls Night”.

Furthermore, the “Girls Night In” women intend to complete the invitations, the t-shirts, and any videos that will be shown to the freshmen girls before summer commences. However, summer preparation two to three weeks prior to “Girls Night In” is a must. “We [the Senior Women and Cussen] try to get everything done before the summer, but of course prepping beforehand is crucial so that everyone knows their roles and what to do on the big day. For example, we’ll make sure the fashion show runs smoothly before presenting it to the freshmen girls,” explained Cussen.

The Boy Bulldogs, formerly known as the FreshMAN experience, also dedicate a significant amount of time before the end of school.

“The boys and I have multiple meetings before summer starts. We work on gathering volunteers — so far we have about 40 –, discussing speakers and speech-making, and finalizing activities and dates,” said Steven Stam, an English I and English II teacher and counselor of the “Boys Bulldog Experience”.

Stam continued, “Activities are split into four stations with 45 minutes designated to each. The boys will be swimming, which eventually leads to the disastrous and amusing belly-flop contest, dodgeball, knockout, and another activity similar to basketball.” Like the Senior Women, the Senior Men will also meet during the summer to tie up any loose ends, call freshmen boys and welcome them to the upper school, rehearse speeches, and “get a feel of the flow of the program.”

“I let them [the Senior Men] do their thing and I’ll jump in if when needed. I want them to realize that it is much as their program as it is mine,” commented Stam.

Each program was designed to provide incoming freshmen girls and boys valuable and thought-provoking information intended to set the course of a successful and happy high school career. Thus, the Senior Women, Senior Men, and their advisers have worked hard to achieve such a goal.

“We work hard to ensure that the programs have a beneficial facets. It tears down the wall from senior perspectives on how they treat the freshmen, especially after spending a whole day with them. The first day of school is less awkward, seeing familiar faces from the programs, and the freshmen gain good advice and information from the speeches,” said Stam.

Stam continued, “If two students walk away [from “Girls Night In” and the “Boys Bulldog Experience”] and learn something beneficial, that’s two still two kids. I don’t care what statistics may say, that’s still two kids who benefited and next year, we’ll hopefully get two more.”

“Girls Night In” will take place on Thursday, August 18 and the “Boys Bulldog Experience” will occur on Saturday, August 20. If you have any questions, please talk to Mrs. Cussen, Hannah Grewal (’17), Angel Fuentes (’17), Mr. Stam, Bear Schickel (’17), Jack Swinson (’17), Nick McIntyre (’17), or Graham Ungrady (’17).