Two years ago, science teacher Sarah Noack wanted to do something more for McCallum. She went to the principal at the time, Nicole Griffith, looking for an opportunity to further her impact on the school. Griffith described a program called Link Crew that had been established at Austin High designed to bridge the gap between middle and high school. Noack, who has been at McCallum for 12 years, decided to start a McCallum chapter of Link Crew to do more to help the freshman in their transition and provide upperclassman knowledge to the students.
“I had a dream about a freshman class like High School 101, [and] how to do high school better,” Noack said, “things like how to email your teachers, how to navigate friendships, how to apply for a job, all the things that freshmen are looking at.”
Noack had worked with freshmen for 10 years and her integration into the “freshman world” allowed her to understand what they need help with. After talking with Griffith, she learned that the administrative staff needed someone to carry Link Crew over to McCallum. Once Noack agreed to be the coordinator for the program , she needed another coordinator so she went to history teacher Ashley Friedman and then science teacher Gabriel Adame. Once Friedman and Adame had agreed, they went to training the following January in 2022.
McCallum’s Link Crew is run by Noack, Friedman, Adame, and new addition Katie Liseman. This summer the four worked to tie-dye shirts for Link Crew and facilitated training week.
“I think my favorite part is how fun it is,” Noack said. ”It’s something totally outside of my teaching job, that is a ton of work. But it’s super fun.”
Noack explained that if she could have Link Crew as just her job she would.
“It feels kinda like summer camp,” Noack says, “I also like knowing that we’re helping the younger members at McCallum. We may not be impactful in the first year, may not be super impactful in our second year, but the more years we have it here, the more successful it will be.”
Junior Sophia Manos, who joined Link Crew this year says her favorite part is getting to help the new freshman class, since she didn’t get this kind of help her freshman year.
“During freshman year, I never had a freshman orientation,” Manos said. “I thought it would be cool to give other freshmen that experience that I didn’t have.”
Manos said her favorite part of Link Crew is socializing with her peers and knowing that she isn’t doing it all by herself.
“It isn’t just you having to guide 10 freshmen around the school,” Manos said. “You get to collaborate with others.”
Sophomore Lujain Alhallaq explains that she loves Noack not just for her great teaching but also the environment she provides for her students.
“Ms. Noack is a great teacher in the way that she cares for all her students and makes learning super fun,” Alhallaq said, “She makes her environment very welcoming and is always there for her students.”
