Program to Help Overton 8th Graders Transition to High School

Any Overton County 8th grader planning on attending Livingston Academy in the fall is invited to the LINK to LA Summer Transition Program.

They will be able to meet their future teachers, learn the layout of their new school, and get a feel for what a day in high school might be like. Federal Programs and CTE Director for Overton Co. Schools Teresa Johnson said the program is to ease students’ anxieties about attending a new school.

“It’s basically designed to help prepare those students to succeed in 9th grade as they make that transition over to LA. During that time they will be exposed to a lot of their freshman teachers, and we hope that will help with the anxiety of that transition,” said Johnson.

Johnson said the students will do a lot of hands-on activities, which will be a welcome change coming from a year of virtual learning. She said she believes the past year could exacerbate to students’ stress about the adjustment.

“It’s a hard transition. I do feel like the virtual and the online capabilities and the last 15 months we’ve endured through the pandemic will add to the situation and the anxiety and the transition in general,” said Johnson.

Johnson said she hopes parents take the opportunity to enroll students in the program to give their children the best chance at adjusting to a new school.

“Especially the ones who have trouble with change, and any student for that matter, just to give them the confidence when they walk in the building come August, it will not be as foreign to them so far as the teachers, the building and such,” said Johnson.

The program runs for from Tuesday June 1st to Friday June 4th from 8:30 a.m. to around 3:00 p.m. For more information visit the Overton County Schools’ website.