WEB EXCLUSIVE Students had their first family PAWS meeting today comprised of students from each grade after assembly.

“The purpose is really just to interact with a lot of people you might not usually interact with,” math teacher Amy Leaver said. “I think it is really nice to interact in a low-stress area, and it is especially nice for juniors and seniors to meet freshman and sophomores.”

In order for students to feel more comfortable, PAWS families played games to get students laughing and working together such as telephone and name association games.

“It was really fun because it was really creative to see how all the groups got together,” freshman Madison Wong said. “I did not  really learn anything new but it was really fun doing the telephone activity because it brought out the funny side of people.”

The goal of PAWS families is to bring together students across all grade levels and strengthen the community according to school counselor Annie Egan.

“I think PAWS families are important because it offers communication between different grades and builds community,” junior Arlena Jackson said. “In order to bond more, I think we could also do interesting icebreaker games or some sort of activities to make people work together.”

PAWS families have up to a total of 45 students. The families provide a space for students to interact with other students from all grades.

“We played a game of telephone charades and I thought it was very funny since the students were terrible at it but it kind of just put them more at ease,” Leaver said. “ I think when we first got together the freshmen were very nervous and the seniors were very talkative, which is normal, so I think students were able to connect and hopefully facilitate relationships better through PAWS families.”