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Anabelle Rositas

To get a head start to his first year of high school, Jeremy Ortega, 9, attends the freshmen tailgate with his friends in the quad on September 9. “It’s a really cool feeling and I like Downey,” Ortega stated. “I like the energy of the school and our leaders.”

The Viking Link Crew hosted their Freshman Tailgate before Downey’s football game on Sept. 9, as few weeks have passed since school started and it was time for this year’s freshmen to be officially welcomed to the Viking Family.

Link Leaders held face painting booths for freshmen to express their inner school spirit and played music to get their energy going before the football game.

Jeremy Ortega, 9, expressed his feelings about Downey and how he felt about the Tailgate.

“It is a really cool feeling and I like Downey,” Ortega said. “I like the energy of the school and our leaders.”

After stepping down from Link Crew, Mrs. James, Mr. Armendariz, Mr. Castile, and Mrs. Nastase have passed on the torch and new advisers have taken charge.  Ms. Simpson, Mrs. Cubas, Mrs. Etson, and Mrs. Ekk plan to have several activities for freshman and link leaders in the future.

“We want to make sure our freshman do not feel forgotten,” Ms. Simpson said. “High school can be a scary place.”

In relation to future Link Crew events, Mrs.Cubas added her thoughts as a new adviser.

“Our goal is to have a lot of peer tutoring,” Mrs. Cubas said. “We want them to understand that they have the support from their link leaders.”

Ms. Simpson is even pushing for an opportunity for Link Crew to compete at a rally against Warren’s Link Crew during Downey vs. Warren week from October 17t to October 21.