Open house is October 23rd-24th at McNicholas High School. The school’s faculty and ambassador program are getting ready for Open House. Open House is an event that showcases McNicholas to 8th graders that are considering going here.
“Open house is like a snapshot of what McNicholas is like,” said Laurie Carigan, Director of Admissions and Enrollment, who is in charge of the open house. She explained that a lot of planning goes into open house because everyone in the faculty is involved.
She wants the open house to be perfect because she wants future students to see what McNicholas offers. One reason why future students want to go here is because of the ambassadors. They are students, the future students see how happy they are here.
Carrigan trains ambassadors to learn tour routes around the school. They have to learn answers to common questions. For example, if a potential student asks when school starts, they’d reply with 7:40.
Autumn Strebel, senior ambassador, will be at the open house. She said that there are certain roles for students during the event; welcomer, tour guide, and helper. Strebel’s favorite role is tour guide. “I like to meet the 8th graders, and see how excited or nervous they are,” said Strebel
Strebel explained that all ambassadors train together. They are put into small groups where they practice the tour routes. They then practice giving each other the tour, so they can have everything memorized by Open House.
“One time I was giving a tour to this 8th grader 30 minutes before open house ended. The 8th grader kept stopping and asking bunch of questions! The tour ended up being an hour long,” said Strebel
As a tour guide, ambassadors have to point out notable things about McNicholas, such as the convent, paradise, the Stewardship and Service mural, and anything the future student is curious about.
The students also might stop to talk to a teacher at one of the stations.
Todd Naumann, modern history teacher and CREW leader, will be stationed at a table for his involvement at McNicholas.
“The students experience healthy school culture, good relationships with students, good relationships with teachers, the students feel safe, and it’s a good learning environment.” said Naumann.
Naumann likes talking to the prospective students and their families because he feels more bonded with the future rockets.
Naumann’s words to any student thinking about going to McNicholas is “The word relationship and opportunity describes our school. McNicholas gives kids unique opportunities that you don’t see at every school. The word relationship also describes our school because everyone here is nice, and through getting to know others better you’ll see God through them.”
Leslie Baum, a theater teacher, is planning on telling the 8th graders about the theater program. In theater, the students do many activities such as painting, building, and directing which is a way that students build relationships.
“In theater, you learn how to act and how to work behind the scenes. This class is a good class to express your creativity,” said Baum. Baum thinks that theater is a class that will help students out in the future with public speaking.
Ava Hudson, freshman, is currently repainting the chalk board right outside the library. She started on the 14th of September. Hudson had to use three coats of chalk paint to cover up the original painting.
Hudson original idea was person throwing a football but got the idea of the outer space theme instead. “When the 8th graders walk by it, they see how good the art program at McNicholas is,” said Hudson.
She chose space because the McNicholas experience is out of this world. On the other chalkboard, Hudson is drawling people huddled together because the school is bonded together as students see throughout the building.
This theme is consistent with what teachers are excited to showcase at McNicholas. “The cool thing about McNicholas is that we’re a really close-knit community, and we can rely on each other,” said Baum
If you want to learn more about Open House and other events going on at McNicholas, information can be found on McNicholas High School on Facebook or the McNicholas website.
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