Link Crew creates positive culture at Crosby-Ironton – Brainerd Dispatch

CROSBY — Andrew Dirks wants to transform the culture at Crosby-Ironton High School, and he’s well on his way.

The introduction of Link Crew is the tool the science teacher is using to accomplish that goal. A nationally recognized program, Link Crew pairs juniors and seniors with their seventh grade peers in an effort to acclimate incoming high school students to the new environment. The older students host orientation at the beginning of the school year along with other events throughout the year.

“We can tell seventh graders, ‘Here’s what you need to know,’” Dirks said. “But it’s a different thing when it’s their siblings or their older siblings’ friends or these kids that they look up to. It’s just a different peer-to-peer kind of interaction.”

Dirks worked alongside middle school English teacher Megan Syrstad to bring the program to Crosby-Ironton last year after having worked with it for nine years at Highland Park Senior High in St. Paul. This year was the first full year of Link Crew in Crosby.

“It was just so fun and cool to see how that transformed the whole school culture,” Dirks said.

He took into account not only students coming from Cuyuna Range Elementary School, but also those previously homeschooled or transferring from other schools like Forestview Middle School in Baxter or Crosslake Community School.

Students meet in their crews throughout the year, doing activities like scavenger hunts and nights full of games, movies and crafts. The meetings also serve to build relationships and help younger students learn lessons in social skills, academic skills, organization and time management.

“The idea is to show them what it looks like to be engaged but also in a fun and safe and correct way,” Dirks said of the younger students involved in the program. “And I think we’ve had a blast with it.”

The participating students — which amounted to 18 leaders and a seventh grade class of about 80 — felt the same way.

Seventh grader Ellis Katzenberger said Link Crew was super helpful as a new student this year.

“My leader (Londyn Eastwood) always made me feel like I belonged,” Katzenberger said in an email. “Not just Londyn but all the leaders were so amazing, encouraging, and kind. The Shannabang and Link Crew Living Room were such a good time! I will remember those nights for the rest of my life.”

Dirks described the Shannabang event as a scavenger hunt early in the year to get kids acquainted with the school. The living room event transformed the school’s media center into a replica of a living room, providing activities like video games, board games and all sorts of crafts.

“I made so many memories with my friends and leaders,” Katzenberger added. “I am so thankful I got to have this experience, but I could not have had it without all of the leaders and teachers. They are the reason why I got to have this experience.”

Contributed / Crosby-Ironton High School

Senior Londyn Eastwood, who led Katzenberger’s group, said she has really enjoyed being a Link Leader and through the program has seen growth in both herself and the younger students.

“At the beginning of the year, the kids are more reserved. However, as the year goes on and we do more lessons, the kids really break out of their shells and start engaging in the lessons more and more,” Eastwood said in an email. “It’s really rewarding, as a leader, to see the growth that the kids make throughout the year. It also feels good to be a positive role model and form bonds with kids who might not have that in their day to day lives. Working with different kids has helped me become a better leader, communicator, and an overall better person.”

Dirks loved seeing the connections students make, too. One memory that stands out to him from the year was of two boys — a junior and a seventh grader — making friendship bracelets together while chatting nonstop.

In an effort to really make the Crosby-Ironton Link program unique, Dirks and Syrstad added a parent component as well, bringing in certified parent coaches for three workshops to talk about parenting middle schoolers, as well as a seventh grade parent orientation while their students had their own orientation.

Seventh grade parent Mitch Swaggert said he found tremendous value in the parent workshops, as well as Link Crew as a whole.

“What stood out most was the safe, positive atmosphere created for continued learning and growth,” Swaggert said. “The collaborative approach, with parents and teachers ‘workshopping together’ fostered a genuine sense of community and shared purpose in supporting our children’s transition. Link Crew has undoubtedly enriched both my son’s experience and our family’s connection to the school.”

With seventh grade students already expressing interest in becoming Link leaders themselves in the future, Dirks hopes to continue growing the program and seeing a positive culture shift at Crosby-Ironton High School.

Theresa Bourke started working at the Dispatch in July 2018, covering Brainerd city government and area education, including Brainerd Public Schools and Central Lakes College.