Ben created a large astral image of himself in the air. Everyone that was at the school was able to see or hear it.
"All students, teachers and Heroes are to be at the stadium in 30 minutes. The orientation will be conducted at that time."
Exactly 30 minutes later, most of the seats were filled and the Heroes, including Julien, were seated on stage. Benjamin walked to the podium and cleared his throat. He shuffeled his notes, smiled confidantly and began.
"Good afternoon to you all. I would personally and on behalf of the Heroes like to welcome you all to The Academy of Higher Learning. This is truly a momentous occasion. There has never been such a diverse grouping of people present in this place. For all of you who do not know me, I am Benjamin Mason, acting Dean of the Academy. Previously known as Hero High, the school has gone under various changes. But I will get into that later. First, allow me to give you all a little history of the school.
The first incarnation of The Academy of Higher Learning was built back in 2005 under the name Hero High. It was made to give off the image of a boarding school, but in truth, it was a high school and training ground to assist young supers in learning how to use their powers and accepting who they were. To boost moral and be sure that the students remained safe, a team was put together. They were students who were well trained in the use of their powers and were tasked with carrying out small scale missions.
The school was successful in keeping its true nature a secret until an alien invasion threatened the world. Having no other choice but to make their existence known, the team of heroes assisted as best they could. Sadly, the school was destroyed and countless lives were lost. A new school was erected a few miles away and the previous location was made into a memorial site.
With the team of Heroes growing more adept in the use of their powers, skills and size, they became the teachers of the new school, despite their ages. They have fought more battles since then and have suffered losses but they remain Heroes to this day. Beings from around the world, galaxy, and even other dimensions began to seek out their help. Never turning away a person in need, the Heroes gained fame, thanks greatly in part to the success in training supers.
A little over half a year ago, the school began to become overpopulated and under staffed. Calling on the assistance of the some times deterrent government, this new school was built. The task of the Heroes remains the same; Train fellow supers in the use of their abilities. The Heroes are more than capable in doing so and are looking forward to working with you all.
After a pause for applaud, Ben continued. The new school is modeled after a large university-style campus. It offers a variety of services which include a recreational center which houses an active gym, three basketball courts and various other rooms that I will not get into right now; a medical lab that is equipped with the latest technology; a large training facility that is designed to test each and every one of you in the use and skill of your powers; and various teaching labs and classrooms for those of you who are still in school in addition to the 6 dormitories, cafeteria, and outside activity centers.
As I have said, there are 6 dormitories. Three are for students ages 13-18, two are for students ages 19 and up, and the final one is for the younger students and their parents. Each dormitory has at least three Resident Assistants and you are all expected to follow the rules they list. Each RA may very well have their own set of rules but the general rules of the school as a whole are No drugs what so ever. There will be no in-house fights tolerated. And you are all expected to carry with you your Student Identification Cards at all times. The ID cards are your access to almost any building in the school; given you have the proper status needed.
There is student status, which gives you access to the recreational centers, cafeteria, classrooms and labs. Teacher status gives you access to the aforementioned as well as the training centers and medical labs. Please note that there are medical labs for the general population and one for the Hero staff. Hero and government status gives you access to the previously mention as well as the Equipment room, the war room, the heroes medical labs and the records room. You can all rest assured that the information held in the records room is not available to anyone but the government and Heroes. If for any reason you need to get into a place that requires a higher status than what you have, you are expected to have the proper supervision with you.
There are also policies that the school intended to keep. We are closely working with the government in an effort to help any super gain control of their abilities. That requires us to make sure that certain things done a certain way.
First and foremost, we have to prove to the many governments involved in this program that having more schools would be beneficiary. So the school has been remodeled and made it bigger to accommodate more of you. There are also specially trained and qualified teachers who are trained how to interact with you all. They, in essence, are meant to relieve the heroes of a job they shouldn't have had to do.
Second, each participating government has complete and total access to the entire school. This includes any records produced and they are allowed to come and go freely. They reserve the right to transfer, admit or expel any student for any reason.
Third, any and every person who completes their training here is required to register as a "Trained Super". Registration consisted of informing the government of a graduate's name, power, location and date of completion.
Finally, the Heroes are the overseers of this program. They are tasked to make sure that everything is run smoothly and they are to protect you all students and your school. If everything goes smoothly the new Academies that are being constructed around the world will be opened to the public.
If we all work together, I am more than positive that this will and can work. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that many of you do not agree with the new policies. But that is what we are here for. The Heroes are the “go-to-guys”, if you will, for your concerns about the policies, the school, government, and the teachers. Whatever you feel like saying, you can come to any one of us and we well see what we can do to assist you.
That brings me to the final subject of this gathering; the Heroes. As some of you may know, the school houses a team of super heroes. This group has valiantly has come to the aid and defended the world from various threats and they are at your disposal. They include me, my wife Katt, Janet, Jordan, Andrew and his wife Jane, Bonnie, Simon, Tori, Blayze, Tech, James and Harkin. Government official Julien Jacobs is also closely working with us. We have all dedicated ourselves to a greater cause and wish to share our knowledge and skills with all of you.
We have also assembled a team of student heroes, some of which are on a mission as we speak. They are Leon, Samantha, Weston, Vixen, Damascus, Uriah, Caleb and Hitosu. They make up the team, Strike Force. We have taken them under our wing and are training them to become what we can only hope will be what this school stands for; a light in a dark world. So when you see a jet shooting out of an empty field or a rather large van zip out of some unknown cave, do not fret. Either team is just off to perform a valuable service.
I thank you all for your attendance and if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask any of us in our offices. Thank you and we all look forward to working with everyone."
Ben, along with the rest of the Heroes, walked off the stage accompanied by loud but curteous applause. He was preparing himself for barrage of questions that he expected to recieve.