Everybody has heard of The Girl Thing, a program in which senior girls have a chance to share what they have learned during high school with female underclassmen. Male students, who also face the whirlwind of experience that is high school, have not had the chance to benefit from this kind of mentoring in the past. But this year, a number of male seniors have stepped up to facilitate an event of their own.

The program will run from Feb. 17-20 in the WHS auditorium, offering five different sessions during lunch periods over three days. It is geared toward freshmen, but if space is available, everyone is encouraged to join.

According to an informational flyer about The Guy Thing, the program’s sessions include discussions covering a wide range of topics, from healthy relationships to a Q&A with Westfield Police Officer Jeffrey Johnson.

Matthew Mineo, a freshman planning to attend The Guy Thing, said, “It sounded like it was a lot of fun; it sounded like something I really wanted to learn about.” Mineo said that sessions such as the “Q&A with a Cop” are important because, “It informs people about what’s going on and what to do when something bad happens—if something bad happens.”

According to Kolesar, The Guy Thing is as beneficial for the leaders as it is for the students who sign up. “It also gives an opportunity for seniors to gain leadership skills in the area of health promotion as opposed to the peer pressure to engage in negative health behaviors that we so commonly see among high school students,” she said.

Senior Facilitator Matthew Williams said that the underclassmen who attend the sessions will take away lessons that will make their high school experiences easier, he added, “that the guys of younger ages will learn not to be afraid to be who they want to be [and] to avoid negative and unhealthy situations that I have…learned to avoid.”