MKOM gets a sophomore face lift

Scooter races, hot dogs, and a few dozen upperclassmen showing off their best dance moves. If you’re in the class of 2013, you know exactly what that means: Miller Kick Off. Over 400 freshmen showed up for the program, held Aug. 4. However, a lot has changed since the Miller Kick Off Mentors (MKOM) program’s opening in 2008.

Freshman campus counselor Kathy Queen started the program last year, with the hope that freshmen would make a connection with upperclassmen from the main campus through monthly lessons and announcements.

However, at the end of first semester, Queen discovered that many freshmen and even some MKOMs were not pleased with the results.

“The separation from the main campus was thrown in [in the freshmen's] face all the time,” Queen said.

Some MKOMs also didn’t like how the freshmen were treated. Junior Jennifer Noel was an MKOMs during the program’s first year. Noel said that she often felt like a teacher to the freshmen, rather than a friend, which was what made that portion of the program somewhat unsuccessful.

For 2009, the MKOMs will instead go over to the freshman campus twice during the course of the year to share announcements and reminders about school events. Noel believes the freshmen will feel more included this way. The brief reminders (as an alternative to the lessons) could remove any attitude that the MKOMs are better than the freshmen.

According to Queen, what does remain the same of the program is the Kick Off day. Slight changes were made to better suit MKOMs and freshmen, such as narrowing down the number of activities, shortening the program’s length, and breaking into smaller groups throughout the day.

Noel felt much more positive about this year’s Kick Off, and overall enjoyed the day far more than the previous year.

“It didn’t feel as tedious,” Noel said. “We didn’t follow the schedule to a T; instead of breaking up into groups, we worked as a whole group, and the freshmen seemed to like that better.”

Noel also believes that not doing the monthly lessons has already been helpful; she has made friends with several of the freshmen in her AL, which came naturally rather than “forcing” friendship.

Nevertheless, it really isn’t about the mentors; the focus is intended to be on the freshmen. Their perception of the program as a whole will be gathered through surveys at the end of the year, Queen said.

Freshman Kristine Klotz said that her MKOMs were very nice and not “over the top” or awkward. With their help, she found her locker and classes easily.

“Whoever chose my MKOMs chose a good group,” Klotz said.

She particularly enjoyed the High School game, in which a leader yelled out a random number and the freshmen had to get into groups of that size. The game’s purpose was to show what high school can often be like: a place where friends are always changing.

Despite the fact that the new changes seem to be beneficial, there is always room for improvement. Queen said that her future dream is to have all of the teachers present at Kick Off, in order to meet students before school starts. She also hopes to hold the program closer to the beginning of school.

“I’m always thinking about next year,” Queen said. “I take notes a lot.” At year’s end, she hopes that the revamped MKOM program will see fruitful results.