Freshman year at Manhattan High can be a scary time. There are new buildings to explore and learn, new people to meet and the fear in minds that something could go wrong. This is why for the last couple years, MHS Student Council has welcomed the freshman to West campus with a fun, exciting night full of games and smiling faces.

“I heard it was a display of all the clubs and I thought that was very interesting. They corralled us into the theater and I was kind of scared,” freshman Emmett Spaw said.

Even though the party was not actually on a hill, it’s still a blast to experience. Though they are new and often looked down upon by upperclassmen, freshman are part of the school and MHS clubs are here to help them feel comfortable. The various student groups all had clever ways of getting freshman interested and involved. Clubs such as The Red Cross Club let students listen to a friend or club member’s heart beat and Thespians, as well as StuCo, helped welcome students into the building and directed Freshman to where they needed to go.

“I think it is very helpful to get the Freshman immigrated into the school. They are about a quarter of the school so I want to help them feel welcome.” Thespian and StuCo member Blaise Hayden, senior, said.

Freshman started out the evening with a short presentation put on by seniors Trinity Price and Renee Raglin. The two Student Council members had the job of getting the freshman excited and pumped up to be a Indian at MHS. The two girls had freshman dance to a call and repeat song called “Hey Burrito,” that got the Freshman excited and energized.

“I remember when I was a freshman and we didn’t have freshman on the hill,” Raglin said. “I was very confused and just not knowing where to go or what to do was hard. So when the school decided to have this I really wanted to be apart of it.”

There were booths with great setups for taking  pictures with friends during the party such as the Anime Club and The Mentor. The Anime Club decorated large pieces of paper and decorated them with intriguing cartoons, allowing students to take selfies in front with different costumes and sign their name on the background. The Mentor allowed students to pose with friends in a small photobooth run by a staff photographer.

Freshman could go on throughout the night to play games such as laser tag in the North gym or spend time with National Honors Society and hit balloons with paper plates. Environmental Science Investigations allowed students to experiment with erosion by replicating the earth with stream-erosion table. Each booth attracted its own unique mixture of students as the night went on.

Many freshman all had similar reasons for wanting to come to freshman party on the hill: food and clubs.

“Free food is always good and I also wanted to come because I wanted to learn more about rowing,” said freshman Eden Westfahl.

In the end, the turn out was great. Clubs hope to have more freshman sign up to feel a part of and belong at MHS. In years to come, the school hopes to have the event grow in club participation and have the whole freshman class come and be welcomed.