By Erica Armstrong, Admiral Arthur W. Radford High School junior

At Radford High School’s Student Transition Center, we welcome all new students to our school community and make sure that they feel safe and have the knowledge and resources they need to succeed here. 

With our school having a high number of military-connected students — and as a military kid myself — it was important for me to give all of our newest Rams a sense of belonging. As a freshman, I had the opportunity to attend the Transition Centers Best Practices Conference, which inspired me to join the Radford Transition Center as a facilitator my sophomore year.

Of our 1,300 student body population, about 65% are military-connected. We have a high turnover rate. Kids are coming in and out every day at our school. My job as a facilitator is to make sure every single one of those kids feels like Radford High School is a place to call home, a place of aloha. Our center’s motto is “Mālama I Nā Haumana” which translates to, “take care of the students.” That’s our main goal – be there for others. Our principal, Mr. Sunday, always states that our Radford Transition Center solves about 99% of potential behavior issues. To us, that is a huge compliment and completely true.

The energy within our Radford Transition Center is so powerful and full of love that the environment is always positive. We have a strict no-phone rule in our room which I believe is very important because, speaking from experience, kids love to hide behind their screens because it can relieve that awkward tension by, metaphorically, putting up the phone as a barrier that protects them. Now, we don’t want our students to feel uncomfortable, but we do want them to feel like they can participate in our plentiful activities that are happening in the Radford Transition Center. We always have a daily UNO match that almost everyone in the room participates in, including our student facilitators. When we are not playing UNO we play chess, do puzzles, and sometimes just chat the whole lunch away. We are not always working with new students either. Sometimes we have to work with our co-workers – other facilitators! This year, we have 18 amazing students who dedicate their time and effort to the Radford Transition Center program. So far, we have helped to serve 99 new students since the start of this school year.

Teamwork is important within our community because we have four student-led units that we present to our new incoming students to help them get adjusted to Radford High School and the state of Hawai‘i. These units are:

• Unit 1: Looking at Radford. We’ll go over school policies, rules, dress codes, the bell schedule, our school’s core values, clubs and athletics.
• Unit 2: Adapting to Change and Coping with Stress. We’ll go over different strategies to deal with stress.
• Unit 3: The Uniqueness of Hawai‘i. We’ll share about the cultural diversity of this state and talk about the “aloha spirit.”
• Unit 4: Charting Your Course and Academic Passport. Here, we’ll talk about all the classes offered at Radford High School and help students identify educational goals and develop a plan.

With so many new students entering our school every day, we’re presenting these four units on a weekly basis.

Becoming a facilitator taught me many important skills that are essential to this role such as excellent communication, honesty, time management and teamwork. Coming into high school, I never thought I could do any of those things, but the Radford Transition Center changed my mindset about that. I never thought that a program would change my thought process so much on topics that translate into real-world situations. In middle school, I was a shy and antisocial kid who never thought she would ever be presenting in front of other people. Here I am now, presenting in front of over 20 students almost every month. I have come so far and what’s amazing is I’ve actually seen kids like me who came out of their shells and are now going to be a facilitator next year with me! 

Thanks to our amazing team and wonderful Radford Transition Center coordinators, Mrs. Kea, Ms. Nance, Mrs. Edwards, and Ms. Allen. We have the opportunity to make Radford High School’s Transition Center what it is today and create a safe space for all students.

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Erica Armstrong is a junior at Admiral Arthur W. Radford High School and serves as a facilitator at the Radford Transition Center. She moved to Hawai‘i four years ago from Arizona. She is a part of the school’s Drama Club and joined the Hawaiian Club, ​​Hui Hawai’i Pili Ma Ka Moana, to learn more about culture and apply it to her role as a facilitator for new students. After high school, she plans to join the U.S. Air Force and become an anesthesiologist. Both her mom and dad are military veterans.