After the success of the first-ever Bruin Camp last year at the Bartlesville Mid-High, school officials quickly decided they needed to turn the freshman orientation gathering into an annual event.
The second annual Bruin Camp unfolded July 28 on the Mid-High campus, and it turned out to be more successful than the first one.
“I think it went very well,” says Mid-High principal Jason Langham. “We had a great crowd, and that included several parents who attended.”
The focus of the Bruin Camp is to allow incoming freshmen to the Mid-High building to acclimate to their new surroundings in a fun environment. School officials schedule enjoyable activities for the Bruin Camp, including a scavenger hunt, team-building exercises and a Mid-High tradition and fun facts game. Approximately 200 youngsters – about half of the incoming freshman class – turned out for the event.
“We ended the day by singing the ‘Bruin Fight Song,'” says Langham. “A lot of the kids knew the words.
“They are freshmen, so this is their first stop as high school students.”
The owner of Body By Colaw, a local fitness center, Charles Colaw served as the keynote speaker during the event. His words seemed to resonate with the students as he is a product of the Bartlesville Public School District and attended the Mid-High as a youngster.
“Mr. Colaw talked about the transformation that he went through during his time at the Mid-High,” says Langham. “He talked about the growth that he made as a young man during his two years here.
“I think that carried weight with our students as they could see that he had walked the same path – the same halls, really – as they are getting ready to take.”
The event was sponsored by the Grace Community Church as well as the Bartlesville Mid-High School Parent Support Group. All of the youngsters who took part in the Bruin Camp received a complimentary T-shirt while several prizes were given away including a Wii gaming system and some iPod Nanos. The day ended with parents joining their children for treats provided by Jared's Frozen Custard.
“We definitely look at the Bruin Camp as a success,” says Langham. “We just want to continue building it so it will be bigger and better.”
Following on the heels of last year's Bruin Camp – the first ever – Langham and the teachers and administrators noticed a change in their incoming freshman class. The students seemed much more at home in their new surroundings. Those who had attended the Bruin Camp had been able to familiarize with their teachers and fellow classmates a bit before the first day of classes ever commenced.
The year seemed to go very smoothly from start to finish, and Langham attributes as least some of that atmosphere to the success of the Bruin Camp.
This year, some of the incoming freshmen seemed a little apprehensive about attending the Bruin Camp, a school event taking place weeks before the new academic year was to commence. But once they began to take part in the fun-filled event, they began to enjoy it.
“By the end of the day, you could really see the attitudes change on the faces of the youngsters,” says Langham. “This was another good Bruin Camp. It went very well.”
The second annual Bruin Camp, a freshman orientation event held on the Bartlesville Mid-High School campus, drew approximately 200 students on July 28.