Pirate Connections Welcomes New Pirates to Morro Bay High
By AmaBella Montoya
Pirate Connections is a new lunch program at MBHS that strives to provide new students with a welcoming environment and connect them with student mentors who have been in attendance at MBHS. Pirate Connections meets every Wednesday lunch period in September in Room 207, with the following dates scheduled throughout the rest of the year: Oct. 9, Oct. 23, Nov. 13, Dec. 4.
The program provides lunch made by Chef Cory, and includes socializing and a weekly activity. The first week, Pirate Connections students had pizza for lunch. The activity of the week was a challenge of cooperation between students: one student would be blindfolded, and hold a donut on a stick and string, while lead by another student calling out directions to get the donut into the third student’s mouth. Many students enjoyed that week’s activity. Senior Savannah Goodyear said with a laugh, “Ugh, it was fun. It was so good.” Goodyear believes that Pirate Connections will benefit Morro Bay High: " We have a really small campus, so kinda everybody knows everybody, but it’s just better to know like…everybody, that’s even new to our school, so they feel welcome.”
The second week’s lunch was a build-your-own-taco bar, accompanied by a get-to-know-you activity including M&M’s. Each color M&M coordinated to a type of question that students would go around their table answering. Senior Adela Suchankova is a transfer student from the Czech Republic, and this is her first year at MBHS. She said that her table was bonding with each other before the activity even started, “I feel like we bonded better without the M&M activity.” Suchankova considers herself to be friendly and extroverted, but she knows that not all new students will be the same. “I believe for some people, it can be hard to [make] friends right away. It’s hard, you know? I just moved here. That kind of like… sucks. So it’s nice that Morro Bay is thinking about us, and [is] making sure that we have some friends.”
So far, the new program is a success. English teacher Ms. Duperron is the advisor of Pirate Connections. She hosts the lunch meetings in her classroom, room 207. Duperron is glad that Pirate Connections has had such a positive turnout. Duperron said, “I think we had between 40 and 50 kids. I didn’t think anyone was going to show for a little bit, so I’m glad people showed up. But overall, I think it was a good, positive environment.” Duperron credits Heather Willis of the Wellness Center for the idea, she said, “[Heather Willis thought of it as] just a… kind of a push to help welcome and help transition new students to the new environment, and to provide support while they’re transitioning here.”
Senior Lucy Fortini, Senior President of Morro Bay High School’s ASB, is in agreement with this statement. She said, “I think [Pirate Connections] is super important for the whole school, and I think the program can build, and build, and build, become a really cool thing. Even a club, or something in the future.” Fortini enjoys being connected with her peers, which is a common trait among Pirate Connections mentors. It’s a trait that helps build the friendly atmosphere in Room 207 every Wednesday lunch.