One of Masco’s most prestigious clubs, Peer Leading, has made a big splash with fun events and smoothly introducing the freshman class to the Masconomet Community. 

  The Masconomet Peer Leading Club is a self-funded group trying to build communities between all grades in school. Junior and senior Peer Leaders each get assigned a group of freshmen they meet with monthly and try to help guide them through the school year. 

  “Our goal is to show the incoming freshmen what it means to be a Masconomet Chieftain,” said club advisor Michael Kelsen. “Peer leaders have an investment in this school [that] you want to see years after you graduate. The comradery and the idea of community and togetherness [are] long-lasting. High school can feel really short or really long if you don’t have the right community. ” 

  The Peer Leaders meet with their group of freshmen once a month during class time, as they believe a check-in is important. Once a year, a student’s long block for each class will be cut in half for the meeting. Prior to the meetings, the Peer Leaders discuss what skills and topics they’d like to go over, and this check-in is usually followed by a hands-on activity with a discussion at the end. 

  “The monthly meeting is imperative for creating this bond and forming a connection over the course of the year,” said senior Peer Leader Jocelyn Dumouchel.

  Aside from the monthly meetings with the freshmen, they put on many beneficial events at the school. The first major event they completed was freshman orientation. Recently, they finished their Boo Bag sales, which is their Halloween fundraiser. Students could purchase a Boo Bag full of candy for $3 and choose a person that Peer Leaders will drop the bag off to during M-Block on Halloween. 

  “It is a fun way to surprise someone with a gift and create a lighthearted mystery over who bought bags for who,” said senior Peer Leader Gwen Moon. 

  Come December, the Peer Leaders are hosting their annual “ Days of Giving” event. This event is to fundraise and collect gift cards and gifts for young adults and teens to give away for the holiday season.

   “Oftentimes, people love to buy toys for little kids at the holidays, but teens and young adults often get forgotten, so we really try to push gift cards and young adult toys and gifts to give for the holiday season,” said Kelsen. 

  So far, the Peer Leaders have done a wonderful job this year in creating a hopefully long-lasting community here at Masco, and still have plenty of events planned for the rest of this school year.