The first day of school is a traditional time for both excitement and jitters, especially if the school is new and entering it marks a significant milestone in students’ lives. For that reason, Valley Regional High School (VRHS) and Tri-Town Youth Services are working with Camp Hazen in Chester on a freshman transition program to ease the way into high school.

“We are very excited about our partnership with Tri-Town Youth Services to provide our new 9th graders with a unique high school orientation experience,” said Kristina Martineau, principal of VRHS. “The Camp Hazen orientation will provide our students with a strong and positive foundation in leadership, team-building, collaborative problem solving, and decision making.”

That experience will include two days of activities, the first at Camp Hazen emphasizing cooperative challenges for teams of students to work through together, and a second at Valley Regional to prepare students for what to expect in their first days at high school.

Holding the first day of the program at Camp Hazen, says Camp Director Kath Davies, gives students ways to relate to classmates beyond the traditional school setting.

“Outside of the classroom, kids have different relationships, and kids can have different kinds of success,” she said.

According to Rhino Merrick, assistant director of Camp Hazen, such high school introduction programs have become increasingly popular throughout the country. Both Merrick and Davies emphasized that there is YMCA training on how to organize and monitor the team-building events that are the central pieces of the first day. They said such programs are growing increasingly popular. Old Saybrook High School has also cooperated with Camp Hazen for a number of years on a freshman introduction program.

The Old Saybrook program is mandatory for incoming freshmen. The inaugural Valley Regional program is voluntary. Merrick estimated there would be from 90 to 100 students attending. Gail Onofrio, director of Tri-Town Youth Services, says that research shows students who build strong relationships with peers and feel confident in their own abilities do better academically. The freshman program is being funded through a drug-free community grant that Tri-Town received from the federal government.

At Camp Hazen, freshman will be divided into groups matching, whenever possible, the core groups they will be placed in at Valley Regional. Each group will work not only with Camp Hazen staff, but also with peer advisors, Valley Regional upperclassmen who have received special training to prepare for their role in the day’s events.

The Camp Hazen program gives participants two levels of problem-solving challenges that depend on groups working together as teams. At first, Merrick said, the teenagers sometimes seem skeptical about what’s happening, but that doesn’t last long.

“Within a half hour, they are thinking this is really fun,” he said.

Martineau, who knows what the upcoming program entails, agreed.

“It makes me wish I could be a freshman again,” she said.

On the first level, according to Merrick, student groups might have to roll marbles for a designated distance through tubes. The catch, however, is that there is not enough tubing to cover the whole distance so the team has first to plan and then to cooperate on quickly moving the tubes to keep the marbles constantly in motion.

More challenging activities include boosting all group members over a nine-foot wall, climbing Hazen’s 55-foot alpine tower, and using its high ropes course. There is a time limit that adds another element of pressure to all the activities. Time, Davies pointed out, is a regular element of school, everything from completing a test to turning in homework.

Group planning on how to approach each challenge is basic to all the activities, as is debriefing afterwards.

“They talk thing through, discuss what their roles will be,” Davies said.

Debriefing, which takes place with Camp Hazen staff, enables participants to discuss what went right or wrong in the activity. If the group didn’t complete the challenge, the students plan how they will tackle it again. And that, too, is a life lesson.

“It’s natural in the world to face setbacks,” Davies pointed out.

Camp Hazen staff monitors all activities and no participant is ever forced to go beyond what is advisable for him or her.

“The first priority is always safety,” Davies said. “We want kids to push themselves, but it’s really about their comfort zones and feeling support. We respect everybody’s individual choices.”

Sometimes, she adds, a participant who can make it only one or two levels on the 55-foot tower will receive the biggest cheers from the group members because they appreciate the effort it took.

The whole day at Camp Hazen, Merrick noted, has one goal.

“Freshman transition is all about helping kids to get a positive start at school,” he said.

Martineau echoed his sentiments.

“This event is an integral component of our 9th-grade advisory program to prepare out students for success at Valley Regional High School and beyond in college and career experience,” she said.

To sign up for the Freshman Transition Event, call Tri-Town Youth Services at

860-526-3600.