On June 18 to 22, 2012, incoming IB freshmen were treated to a weeklong CavCamp, where the students met their future teachers, participated in team-building activities, and talked to IB seniors to gain a candid perspective on the IB program and life at Gables.
Monday began with a pep talk at the auditorium by Mrs. Suarez, activities director, and Mrs. Cuesta, IB director, who discussed the requirements and components of the IB program. Afterwards, the kids were broken up into groups led by some of the school’s favorite educators, such as Mrs. Cosgrove (their freshman world history teacher), Mrs. Vidal (their freshmen English teacher), and Mrs. Zuniga (their future math studies teacher and director of yearbook). In these sessions they performed a variety of activities and games that combined fun with learning, such as a murder mystery game that required math to solve. Students also began to work on skits that they would perform on Friday in front of everyone.
Afterwards, students were divided into even smaller groups and assigned two seniors to talk with them about clubs, activities, sports, teachers, and any other questions they might have in a casual, funny, and honest manner.
Throughout the rest of the week, students were led on senior-guided tours of the school, participated in a surprisingly intense scavenger hunt and egg drop contest, and finished it off with a game day on Friday where teams furiously competed against each other in tug-of-war, catch, volleyball, and trivia. “It was really nice to familiarize myself with the school and make some friends”, said incoming freshman Joshua Andino.
Indeed, at the end of Friday, most freshmen seemed to share Joshua’s opinion, commenting on how nice it was that they already had a sense of direction and knew a little about the school (such as the fact that there is no pool on top of the new building) and had made new friends for the first day of school. They also enjoyed bonding with seniors, who would probably never talk to them on the first day of school, and many groups made plans to meet up at least once every grading period to catch up and see how everyone was doing as new students at Coral Gables Senior High.