Starting in the 2025–2026 school year, ROAR became a new and impactful addition to Wilde Lake. ROAR, which stands for Respect, Ohana, Accountability, and Relentlessness, is a student-led advisory program initiated by Mrs. Bauer and Dr. Dobs alongside a team of student ROAR Ambassadors who spent the summer before the 25-26 school year planning what the program would become. While it is now a regular part of student life, many students may wonder how it began, what its purpose is, and how it continues to shape Wilde Lake today. More than just an advisory period, ROAR represents an effort to strengthen communication, connection, and student involvement throughout the school community.
From the beginning, the vision behind ROAR was to create more than just a platform for announcements. The goal was to build a space where students could stay informed about everything happening at Wilde Lake while also feeling connected to one another in a fun and engaging environment. Through activities, videos, discussions, and student participation, ROAR was designed to make the Lake feel more unified and student-driven.
As someone who has always cared deeply about student advocacy and communication, ROAR feels especially meaningful to me. During my sophomore year, my friend Reese Roca and I created and edited weekly WLHS Now videos, also known as Now TV. The broadcasts focused on school events, reminders, and opportunities happening both in and outside of Wilde Lake. Our goal was similar to the mission ROAR has today: making information more accessible, engaging, and student centered.
Reflecting on WLHS Now, Reese Roca explained that the idea was simple, “We wanted a quicker and more fun way to get information out to students,” she said. “A lot of school information lives on social media, and not everyone sees that, so we wanted to make it more accessible.”
Although WLHS Now did not grow to the scale we had envisioned during that single school year, the project carried many of the same ideas that now exist within ROAR. Looking at ROAR today, Reese sees clear similarities between the two efforts. “It’s definitely trying to accomplish similar things,” she said. “It’s really cool seeing it become a recurring part of the school week.”
Watching ROAR grow into something even bigger has been especially rewarding because I am a ROAR Captain and Ambassador myself. Being involved in both ROAR and WLHS Now has shown me how powerful student-driven communication can become when more students, staff members, and leaders work together toward the same goal.
That same sense of collaboration is something many students involved in ROAR have noticed as well. Chandler Carroll, a member of the ROAR video crew, explained that “I’ve seen how the videos and interviews bring our community together making Wilde Lake a place where everyone feels heard and seen. The videos promote inclusion and connection, which help create a welcoming atmosphere for everyone,” she said.
While Mrs. Bauer and Dr. Dobs brought the vision for ROAR to life, students themselves have played a major role in shaping what the program has become. Over the summer before the 2025–2026 school year, ROAR Captains worked alongside staff members to plan activities, organize ideas, and help establish the culture of the program before students ever experienced it.
As ROAR Captain Ella Nester explained, “We came in during the summer and worked a lot with Dr. Dobs and Mrs. Bauer to develop our ideas and make ROAR something that most students and teachers would enjoy.”
The work extended far beyond a few summer meetings. “I don’t think people realize how much work goes into the little slideshows they see every week,” Ella said. “There were countless emails back and forth between me, Lindsey, Dr. Dobs and Mrs. Bauer as we figured out activities, videos, and what ROAR would look like each week.”
Beyond the Captains, many students have also contributed through roles such as ROAR Ambassadors and members of the ROAR video crew. These students help lead activities, create content, and encourage participation during advisory sessions. Their involvement has helped ROAR feel less like a school requirement and more like something students genuinely connect with.
For ROAR Ambassador and incoming captain Keegan Collins-McCarthy, the program has been an opportunity to bridge gaps that can naturally form within a large school community. “I feel like there’s always a lot of different groups here, which is amazing, but there are still gaps in connection,” he said. “To be able to lead a group to come together, learn more about each other, and interact was really beneficial for me.”
Through advisory activities and discussions, ROAR creates opportunities for students who might not otherwise cross paths to build relationships and strengthen school unity.
Today, ROAR has become more than just a source of information. According to Dr. Dobs, one ROAR’s greatest strength is that it is driven by students themselves. “The whole idea is that it’s student-driven to create the Wilde Lake students want,” he said. “We want every student to feel like they’re a part of it.”
That student involvement has helped ROAR evolve into something that is both fun and informative, something students genuinely look forward to each week. “Some students told us they look forward to it on a weekly basis and that it’s one of their favorite parts of the week,” Dobs said.
For Mrs. Bauer, ROAR was always about building relationships and creating a sense of belonging within the school community. “What I hoped students would gain was a sense of connection and relationships with people they normally wouldn’t meet,” she said.
Looking toward the future, both Mrs. Bauer and Dr. Dobs believe ROAR is still only beginning to reach its potential. “The possibilities are really endless,” Bauer said. “It can become a space where students not only receive information, but grow as leaders and shape the culture of the school themselves.”
As more students contribute their voices, creativity, and leadership ROAR has the opportunity to expand far beyond its first year. What began as an idea planned over a summer has already become a defining part of the Wilde Lake experience. If the first year of ROAR was about building a foundation, the years ahead may be about students continuing to shape what ROAR becomes, and continuing to shape Wilde Lake itself.
“When I walk through the halls during ROAR and see students engaged and participating,” Mrs. Bauer said, “that’s when I know it’s working.”
