Arlington Career Center is home to several programs, and the first day of school is reserved for a warm welcome back to each one. They all aim to build community, see old friends, and meet the teachers they will be with through the school year. These activities took place at school and included engineering challenges, team bonding, meeting teachers, and seeing old friends while also meeting new people. Four program leads–Dr. Van Lare, Ms. Treviño, Mrs. Frazier, and Mr. Johnson––shared how they launched the new school year.

Arlington Tech

The Arlington Tech program, which focuses on PBL and other hands-on projects, had four different activities that helped keep the focus of PBL and team building. 

 The Freshman, led by Mr. Schwind, started with an engineering challenge. Each group of five had only 35 minutes to build a shelter that could house two students, then went on to complete a scavenger hunt around the building to find 15 classrooms, at which point they got a stamp proving they were there. The Freshman team loves this annual tradition because of its low stakes with no winner or loser–just fun!

The Sophomores competed in a design challenge led by Mr. Cave and Ms. McFarlane. Each team got to design, create, and wear matching team uniforms using only newspapers, streamers, and tape. A runway-style show displayed the results of their teamwork. The Sophomore team will definitely do this again next year because it gives everyone a chance to come together in a creative way. 

The Juniors did a virtual escape room and hung out in pre-assigned classrooms. This gave students the opportunity to see old classmates and maybe meet new ones since the rooms were assigned. 

The Senior’s activity involved a series of social media challenges where they had to reenact a scene from movies. Some of the seniors helped the freshman with their activities. This activity was used as a way for the seniors to celebrate their last year within APS. The activity might change slightly next year, but will keep the main focus on team and community building. 

The Academy

The Academy at ACC focuses on community building and engagement between the students went over expectations for the year with a presentation. The students then went on to do team bonding with each teacher throughout the rest of the day. Community plays a major role in the program all year long. Something to look forward to: a CTE fashion show that the Academy will be putting on featuring all the CTE classes coming in the spring of 2024.  

ELI Program

 Ms. Treviño, the head of the ELI program, talked about how everyone within the ELI community met as a team and shared highlights of their summer. They then did a scavenger hunt of things around the school,while also allowing the students to talk with their counselor about any questions relating to their schedule. Everyone enjoyed it and was super happy and excited during and after the program. The students then went to all their classes to get to know what each class will be like. Looking ahead, the ELI program will be the flag parade during Archers period sometime in October to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and to honor where all the students came from. 

PEP Program

The PEP program focuses on professionalism and gaining life skills had a big group meeting with all the students and staff to start off the school year. After welcoming each student, they showed a video from last year’s students working at their internships and CBI’s (Community Based Instruction) where students learn how to use public transportation and budgeting basics. Everyone then shared about their summer and compared what they had in common and the differences as a way of team building. 

All first-day programs show our united front. They set expectations, build a community, and help students readjust before the hecticness of the school year. It helps to ease the back to school stress of figuring out how to balance work and school after the freedom that summer often brings. Every activity has a purpose and helps to lead to a productive and good school year.