Sunray High School welcomed 47 freshmen Monday afternoon during the school’s second annual Fish Camp.

The special schedule of Fish Camp brings upperclassmen to campus in the morning, while the freshmen are the only students in attendance during the afternoon hours. The freshmen get the same information the upperclassmen received in the morning, but in a smaller assembly. Then, they locate their lockers before going through a shortened version of their class schedule.

Doing all of that without the crowd of upperclassmen around allows the freshmen to enter the faster pace of high school with less culture shock. Then, in the evening, school personnel and the freshmen gather at the local pool for a hamburger dinner provided by members of the FCCLA and FFA organizations.

School officials say that having just freshmen allows the newcomers to make the transition to high school more smoothly.

“It is just the freshmen in the afternoon and they become familiar with the high school building and the location of their classes,” said High School Counselor Bud Hazlett. “I also like the evening activity, because it allows them to get to know their classmates and their teachers in an informal setting.”