How it all started

November 15, 2019

Freshman+Clap+In+Video+1

The Freshmen Clap In was started in reaction to a wave of student suicides that shook the LFHS community.

It was a nice gesture, I felt welcomed, it was just very long and scary and I didn’t know what to do.

— Freshman Mary Grace King

The debate provokes investigation into the origins of the rite-of-passage, and current Business teacher Laura Clegg — the figure who introduced the Clap-In to LFHS — placed the Clap-In in the context of a major school-wide initiative to increase emotional wellness.

“This goes back to the time that we were just starting things like the EW All School Walk,” said Clegg. “I went to a conference for increasing social/emotional wellness and the host school did something similar that spurred the idea for me.  At the time I was also in charge of Link Crew, so it was a natural way to make it happen.”

So, while it may seem that it is a well-established tradition with a storied history, its foundation is fairly recent. Events like the Clap-In, the Walk, and clubs such as “Enjoy The Journey” were a wave of emotional wellness outreach established by the school around 2012, a year in which multiple student suicides rattled the community.

Clegg was impressed by the initiative students took early on, and through those experiences, she has kept the purpose in mind.

“I honestly had no idea if the older students would be willing to come in to the school on one of their last days of summer to welcome our freshmen, but we have amazing students. They came!” she said. “I teach several freshmen classes and even to this day, I always tell them that we are the opposite of what you see in the movies…if they are lost or need help they should ask an upperclassman.”

Since its inception, Link Crew has continued to make an effort to integrate and increase the Clap-In’s luster.

“We have gotten the band to play more recently and more people have been invited. It has grown, and the day now kind of builds up to the clap-in.” current Link Crew coordinator Rebecca Schwartz said. “At first, they meet with Mrs. Harmsen and I see that they have our support, and then they meet with parts of Link Crew to know that they have their support, and by the end of the day they can realize that actually the whole school supports them.”

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