The January Peek comes to you from guest blogger and middle school teacher, Monica Schroeder.
Conflicting feelings that make up the 8th grade mind scramble to the front on a day scheduled for a high-school visit.
How good do I need to look?
Do I take my backpack?
Will someone show me where to go?
Are we visiting classes?
Who’s going to see me?
Will I see the people I know?
There is so much that is unknown.
Every December we take the 8th graders over to the high school campus to give them a chance to see what’s ahead. Many students are familiar with the campus - or at least parts of the campus - for a variety of reasons.
Some have attended sporting events in the stadium or gym; some have been to musicals, concerts, or plays; some have been to camps or homecoming weekends. But on this day, they consider what it will be like to actually be a student here.
After attending chapel at the home school, we board buses to the high school. The mixture of the excitement that comes from getting out of classes and the nervous exuberance about going into the unknown quickly fogs up the windows.
Upon arrival, we are escorted to the chapel balcony to see what their service is like. Do the 8th graders notice the student participation in chapel and realize that high-schoolers sing? Some do.
Next on our itinerary are workshops that several faculty members provide as a way for 8th grade students to get a preview of some high-school classes. Our students can experience choir, robotics, graphic design, a food lab - and more!
This is a really nice way to make the time interesting. After 2 of these experiences, we are invited to enjoy the wonderful lunch prepared for that day. During this time, the 8th graders get a feel for the kind of freedom that high school students enjoy. That’s the part that makes it difficult to take them back to the EC-8 campus!
After seeing friends and siblings in the cafeteria, it’s time to head to the theater for some informational time. A panel of students - mostly juniors and seniors - share experiences that they find valuable from sports to the arts to classes to friendships. A recurring theme is to be open to new experiences and new people.
Try new things. Meet new people.
The bus ride back is a little different. No more nervousness but excitement for the future is the dominant attitude. They’re always a little harder to live with after this visit. They think they’re ready and that we should be giving them more freedom even now.
Mr. Wiens' message to them was pretty strong along those lines:
Freedom = Responsibility.
When you put it like that, maybe we can put it off for these remaining months! Let the conflicting feelings continue. Only five and a half more months of middle school!
