Boise students return to their classrooms; schools launch new programs and traditions
In the dark, still cool air of Wednesday morning, Timberline High School’s senior class showed up for their first day of school an hour early to stand in line for pancakes.
Student Council senior representative Petra Smith and senior class vice president Kayleigh Riddle said it wasn’t hard to convince them to arrive at dawn for free food. Not long ago, this class started its school year online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first day pancakes became a new tradition last year as a way to celebrate being together again, they said.
“They are happy to be back with their friends,” Principal Diana Molino said.
Timberline has 1,408 students enrolled this year, including 471 seniors, according to Molino.
Molino oversaw the transitional period after COVID-19 pandemic measures were lifted as a new principal, having been promoted from an assistant principal in 2020. She said the past two school years have offered new opportunities for once-disconnected students to connect. Administrators are making an effort to grow student sections at school sporting events.
“It was hard to get students together and to have them really feel like a part of Timberline, so feeling like they belong here is a major focus for us,” Molino said.
Inside the library, freshman foreign exchange student Fiona Mikkelsen, 15, from Denmark, checked in with an administrator to be paired with a student ambassador through the Wolf Connection program. Student ambassadors with Wolf Connection are tasked with helping new students navigate Timberline, whether they are transferring from across Boise, the country or the world.
The school also launched a new suicide prevention program called Sources of Strength. The program uses peer leaders and faculty members to promote mental health. Students in the program meet to plan and initiate projects like last year’s Kindness Week, which involved sticking positive notes to teachers’ doors and handing out coffee gift cards to students who performed acts of kindness.
“Sources of Strength helps them to recognize then focus on the positive things in their lives,” Molino said.
Across town, teenagers at Hillside Junior High School filled aluminum foil boats with pennies for a science experiment and learned how to greet each other in Spanish.
Principal Jennifer Weske pointed out brand new laminated posters on the walls.
“This year we are emphasizing doing things the RAM way: Being respectful, accountable and mindful,” Weske said.
She said she hopes the new RAM system will set expectations and cultivate positive behaviors among Hillside’s 620 students.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 1:34 PM.
