Middle School Student Activities

Opportunities for students to become actively involved in school are many. We foster the idea that middle school is an educational community of students who are intellectually stimulated and challenged but who are also members of the broader social community of school; therefore, we provide opportunities in which students are able to strengthen social ties by maintaining friendships while developing new relationships among peers and a better understanding of self.

During this period of adolescent development, it is common for students to perceive their world as it relates only to them. Thoughtful guidance by teachers, parents, and peers is crucial and is not always presented effectively in a school's regular daily structure. We look forward to those opportunities, planned or not, where character building becomes a part of the interaction among students and teachers.

All middle school students participate in planning for a middle school dance. Three dances are held each year. The seventh grade is responsible for the October dance, the sixth grade for the February dance, and the eighth grade plans the May dance. Students are responsible for decorations, food, and advertising. Each student may invite one guest to any or all of the dances which begin at 7 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night. Music is supplied by a DJ.

Because the beginning of the school year is one of transition, especially for our entering sixth grade students, it is important that each student feels welcomed and confident as the year begins. Middle school teachers have designed programs for students to address this need. The sixth grade program is designed to broaden a student's acceptance of others through a variety of individual and team activities. These activities include journal writing, group challenges, art, review of basic etiquette which culminates in a luncheon at a local restaurant, and a community service project.

The seventh grade activity is an Outdoor Education program. The students go to camp for three nights and four days where they explore and learn about the environment, participate in group challenges, learn to work together as part of a team, and gain respect for their community and the natural world. In the eighth grade, students participate in a ropes course, attend a local theater performance, perform for other middle school students, participate in group challenges, and enjoy a trip to San Francisco visiting historical, scientific, and literary sites which complement the eighth grade curriculum.

To promote further appreciation of curricula and to provide students an opportunity to develop their interests in a subject area beyond the classroom setting, subject area teachers may offer lunchtime or after school clubs. Recent examples include the Science Club which offers students a chance to explore engineering and design challenges in an informal atmosphere. The experiences this club offers expand the concepts and principles of the seventh grade life science curriculum. The Foreign Language Club's objectives are to encourage a respect for all nationalities and an understanding of them based on a more thorough knowledge and appreciation of the peoples of the world. It further encourages the learning of language as a medium of communication, and it strives to serve as an example of what can be accomplished by individuals of diverse ancestry working together as one.