On the chilly morning of Aug. 21, the new assistant principal, Dr. Brian Landisi, was welcomed to the Panther family by spending time early in the morning helping health teacher Randy Tiffany and physical education teacher Chris Axelgard make pancakes and sausages for the annual freshman pancake breakfast

Landisi said that he enjoyed this experience. “This is my first pancake breakfast at Clark,” Landisi said. “It’s exciting!”

Tiffany, on the other hand, has been making breakfast for the freshman class since 1998, the first year that Clark Magnet High School was opened as a high school. He ends up making around 500 pancakes every year. Before the freshmen could devour their pancakes, they had to sit on the amphitheater steps for a short assembly starting with the flag salute led by junior class president, Hovhannes Movsisyan.

Later on during the assembly, the freshmen had a surprise visit from Clark Magnet alumni, Rafik Mughnetsyan, class of 2011. He stressed the importance of homework, and gave four pieces of advice from his high school and college experiences: “Number one, do your homework. Number two, do it on time. Don’t wait until Sunday morning. Number three, you have to do it correctly. And number four, if you don’t understand it, ask questions.”

Assistant Principal Lena Kortoshian ended the assembly with a short speech and raised their spirits by saying that Clark was chosen by Newsweek as number 153 out of 30,000 high schools in America.

Freshman Alec Cazian said that he found the breakfast to be a worthwhile experience. “I think the school is doing a great job welcoming the freshmen,” he said.

Many students also said they appreciated the staff’s work in cooking the food. “I think it’s pretty cool for Clark to give all the freshmen pancakes,” said freshman Lusin Grigorian. “Shout-out to Mr. Tiffany for making all of them!”

Many freshmen agreed that the pancakes tasted great. Freshman Razmik Alemsharyan told his best friend, Gor Mirzakhanyan, “I think it’s a good idea. The pancakes are pretty good!” Mirzakhanyan, responded by saying “These pancakes are almost as good as IHOP!” Many students lined up for seconds.

Many agreed that the event was a huge success. Kortoshian said that she appreciated the staff for helping. “It’s a great opportunity to welcome the ninth graders and make them feel at home,” she said.

ASB advisor Elaine Snodgress said she thought the event was successful, and she was thankful for the PAC leaders and ASB members who contributed to the effort.