On Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2024, Berkeley High School administrators and student leadership hosted the annual Welcome Back Assembly in the Donahue gymnasium. Speakers included Health Center staff, academic counselors, and various student leaders, who were followed by performances from the BHS cheerleaders and the advanced Afro-Haitian dance class.
According to John Villavicencio, Director of Student Activities, the assembly aimed to bring the community together and introduce students to BHS resources and support systems, which are offered by various programs, student organizations, and campus staff.
Alexis Gonzales, a BHS therapist and clinical supervisor, spoke on services offered at the Health Center.
“(The health center offers) four different types of services, including Grab and Go, reproductive and sexual health services, mental health services, and first aid,” Gonzales said, “All of our services are free and confidential, the only thing that we need consent for is for first aid services.”
The academic counselors also introduced themselves during the assembly.
“Anything you need, we are here to support you, we are here for you academically, socially, and emotionally,” Ali Ortega-Mendoza, one of the counselors at BHS, said. According to Joanne Dumbrigue, one of the college counselors at BHS, the College and Career Center offers tutoring and study hall with computer and printing access available from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Monday to Thursday for all BHS students.
Jennifer Shanoski, one of the school board directors, spoke about how the school board is a voice for the community, and encourages the students at BHS that are going to be 16 years old by Monday Nov. 5, 2024, to register to vote so the voice of the students is heard.
After Jennifer Shanoski spoke, the athletic directors Ross Parker and Robin Van Der Vegt urged the BHS community to purchase a $20 sports pass that will get students unlimited access to home games throughout the entire year. They also recommend that if students are unable to attend games that they stream the games. “We have a website that you should all burn into your brains, berkeleyhighathletics.org,” Parker said.
Between speeches, the advanced Afro-Haitian dance class paid tribute to this past summer’s medalists in women’s floor gymnastics. The teacher of the Afro-Haitian dance classes at BHS, Dawn Williams, spoke about the hard work that the gymnasts underwent.
“We bring up our sisters for working hard and overcoming obstacles to achieve their goals,” Williams said. For Amaris Sotorosen, a freshman at BHS, the performances were the best part of the assembly and it was exciting to see all the school spirit
Some attendees, however, felt the assembly went on a little too long. “I feel like you could have covered all of that in like, five minutes (instead) of like (over an hour),” freshman Luca Waugh, said. “A quick little like, copy and paste into documents, or into emails and the bulletin.” Nalani Rapoza, a BHS freshman, also noted that the freshmen orientation contained the same information as the assembly.
According to Villavicencio, past assemblies primarily contained the voices of BHS staff with few student voices. “It used to be more adult voices, it’s now about 50 percent (adult voices) 50 percent (student voices), but it used to be like 90 percent (adult voices) 10 percent (student voices),” said Villavicencio.