By Marissa Wagley and Al Stewart

For the ninth year in a row, motivational speaker Ted Wiese inspired the freshman class for their next four years at FHS and possibly the rest of their lives.

Coming from Carmel, IN, Wiese travels all over the country, motivating people to do great things.  His stories, activities, and words of wisdom encourage thousands of people each year.

On August 28, the FHS freshman class met in the school auditorium from noon until the end of the school day to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Freshmen were numbered off and put into small groups, each of which included one senior mentor.  These mentors were the class officers and student council officers for this school year.  Guiding the freshman, they helped with many of the fun activities Weise had constructed for the day.

One of the first games they played when put in their groups had to do with names and being able to say each group member’s name quickly.  This was the icebreaker and got classmates to bond and become closer.

Another game he had for the students was all about creativity.  Every group was given 100 notecards and challenged to build the tallest tower of notecards within a 10 minute time limit.  This got kids to work together and come up with many unique strategies to succeed.

Freshman Brittney McNelly said “It wasn’t like any other seminar I’ve ever been to. I really liked it.”

At the end of the day, the students all went back to their seats and listened to Weise share motivating stories and prepare them for their high school careers at FHS. Using his famous saying he finished the day by getting the kids to chant “I feel great!”