Freshmen entered the doors of Blue Valley High School on Monday, Aug. 15 for orientation night. New students started off with their parents in the PAC where principal Scott Bacon welcomed them into the Tiger Family.

Bacon’s speech, though a small part of the evening for the freshmen, was encouraging for Ashleigh Boeckmann.

“It makes me know that it’s a pretty good school to go to,” Boeckmann said. “Like he said, one of the best in the country.”

After about 15 minutes in the PAC, freshmen were released and gathered into the senior lunch room, where Tiger Mentors greeted them with loud cheering and a long spirit tunnel.

In addition to dressing freshmen up in the theme associated with their Tiger Time, mentors themselves dressed up as well. Senior Nick Reding wore a full-body spandex suit, complete with a face and head hood, to greet his freshmen.

“I thought it would add a little excitement to the night,” Reding said.

Themes included Harry Potter, luau and gangster, and mentors were asked to bring items to dress the freshmen up in items corresponding with the theme.

“Enthusiasm is a big key,” junior mentor Tate Gilchrist said. “We have to be enthusiastic instead of scary and make it fun.”

After greeting and getting dressed up, mentors set out with groups of four to six freshmen to tour the school.

“The mentors told me a lot about where to find everything and the best shortcuts to take to class,” freshman Jennifer Maxwell said.

After the tour, students and parents rejoined in the commons for ice cream. Senior executive mentor Michael Huston said he expects the freshmen to be awesome.

“They’re high energy, and they get taller every year,” Huston said. “As Mr. Bacon says, they set a bar every year and then exceed it.”