The delicious smell of chocolate ganache wafted out of the Culinary Arts room as a tour full of nervous 8th grade students approached it one day last week. “He’s sold,” said one parent to another, as her son took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the classroom.

The group of potential students explored many different parts of school and asked questions of  their PAL tour guides along the way. They also attended a short information session with Principal Tim Hornig in the media center before seeing the campus.

Hornig discussed  the lottery, schedule, and school atmosphere. He clarified concerns about waiting list procedures and a four year plan on a 4×4 schedule.

Next, the students, who hailed almost solely from Oak Crest and Diegueno, split into four groups and followed a PAL to the theater, the gym, the field, the woodshop, and more. When they arrived at the shops, freshman Ava Lilie gave words of encouragement to the middle schoolers. “Come to SDA,” Lilie said. “I believe in you.” Similarly, culinary arts students whispered, “You should go to SDA,” to the 8th graders when they walked into the Culinary Arts classroom.

Potential students and parents seemed to be impressed. “The campus is really cool,” said Diegueno 8th grader Ashay Chutke. “I like how there’s a lot of artistic stuff,” said another middle school student. “I just like the whole campus and everybody here and how they’re all really nice,” she added.

“I learned about all the clubs and the campus… I like how it’s a lot of artistic stuff and my brother also goes here and he really likes it and I just like the whole campus and everybody here and how they are all really nice,” said Jaden Hauptman, an 8^th grader.

Carin Hauptman, a parent, said, “I’m impressed with the school because of the schedule, the fact that the kids get eight classes versus six at a school like LCC.  It’s a big difference, and my son is a sophomore and he loves it here. He only has positive things to say about the school. For us it was an easy decision.”

Overall, the tour highlighted the school pride of current students, who welcomed the middle schoolers with open hearts — and open kitchens.