On October 22nd, 2025, the Senior Mentors accompanied the Class of 2029 to Bobby Bello Park in Bay Ridge. The event’s goal was for freshmen to bond with their mentors. All throughout the trip, the day was filled with excitement and group activities that welcomed the new students and brought the freshmen and seniors closer together.
This field trip served as the first major community-building activity of the year, giving freshmen a chance to truly know their mentors in an alternative setting, and take a break from the demands of the high school environment through games, teamwork, and group bonding.
A picture of senior mentors and freshmen playing a friendly soccer match. (Luis Hernandez)[/caption]
Despite it being a windy and chilly 65°F, the activities were enjoyed by all. Even students who had a limited understanding of English participated and enjoyed the group activities. Most groups also had a native speaker to assist these students.
A warm-up activity was performed called “Water Up, Fire Down.” This consists of taking a deep breath in, holding it and exhaling as a group. This activity calmed down many of the students and allowed them to settle in after getting off of their buses. After that, groups hosted their pre-planned independent activities.
One such activity was called Factory Game. This game consists of four beanbags, with each assigned a topic students had to call out before quickly passing it to another peer. The main topics were:
- favorite artists
- names (of peers in the group)
- animals
- food
Colored beanbags were flying everywhere, and despite the loud roadway nearby, the rapid yelps of “pizza”, “Taylor Swift”, and “guinea pig” from excited students pierced through the air. This intense “on-your-feet game” kept the freshmen engaged.
Zulma Culebro, a senior mentor stated: “I would rate today an 8.5/10. I got to be a cheerleader during the soccer game, and I like spending time with my group, they’re fun.”
However, there were some criticisms regarding freshman participation in the games.
“The activities that we did… some of the freshmen were not too happy to be there”, said Rowan Delgado-Nuñez, another of the many senior mentors who attended the event. “It could have gone worse.”
While everyone was enjoying their lunch break, a dance group emerged and hosted an impromptu dance session, which included people who have never danced before. Everyone there got to live in the moment among their peers. Moments like this further solidify the bond between the freshmen and seniors.
Emily Plumb (senior mentor coordinator), stated that she “… thought that [the senior mentors] were very kind to [the freshmen] and supportive of them and included them and made them feel welcome”, and that this year’s mentors were more “… responsive to the freshmen… and met their needs more so than any other year”.
As a chaperone during the trip, Mrs. Plumb noted, “I thought that the circles and the games went really well. When there was wind, people adjusted, they played a different game on the fly, which I thought was amazing.”
An anonymous freshman gave her comments on Field Day. “I liked today because we got to leave school and do something fun with our classmates and our mentors. It made me feel included in the school, and [I] also felt welcomed.”
As the buses pulled away, the freshmen left with more than just memories.
They went home feeling welcomed into a community of people ready to support them.
