The Buzz of the Middle School
By Kelly Wilson
From a 2006 issue of The Summit magazine.
(Mr. Skip Lynam is now Director of the Middle School)
It’s 8:09 a.m. as I walk up the front steps of The Summit’s Harold C. Schott Middle School. I’m happily greeted by two students holding the doors open with a cheerful “Good Morning!” Upon entering, I notice the climate is abuzz with activity.
In the lobby a group of four eighth grade boys are discussing the previous night’s football win over a school rival. They delight in repeating to one another the exciting game ending and how a pass to the end zone in the last 1:22 seconds of the game resulted in the team’s victory.
Athletics
Greg Dennis, Athletic Director, has revised the athletic program to have the varsity coach be the program director for his or her sport K-12. This results in more contact between the varsity coach and Middle School athletes. For example, the varsity and Middle School football teams practice on the same field, which allows the varsity coach to become familiar with Middle school athletes. This year each sport will have its own end of season celebration which will include all Upper and Middle School players. Having high school varsity coaches develop Middle School students’ skills communicates to Middle-schoolers that they are important to The Summit’s athletic program.
The bell rings and students scramble off to class. Middle School Director Warren McClellan's voice resonates over the P.A. system, “Good Morning, today is an A-day. Let’s stand for our morning prayer and pledge.”
Announcements
After the Pledge of Allegiance, students recite the Character Pledge, unique to the Middle School, in which they agree to uphold the standards of moral people. Student achievements, upcoming activities, the previous night’s sports games, and kindness nominations are discussed.
Mr. McClellan describes this morning ritual as “something that will always put a smile on your face. Whether they lost 10-0 or won 10-0 in the game yesterday doesn’t matter; they highlight the positives. The morning announcements are a signal to ‘bring on the day.’”
During announcements on this particular day, two students are recognized for performing an act of caring that was internally driven. Such actions are common in the Middle School. Students receive kindness nominations for things such as helping someone carry his or her books, staying after class to help a teacher clean up a lab, or holding the door for someone whose hands are full.
Sense of Kindness
Mike Fee, Middle School Guidance Counselor, explains that the Middle School has an “atmosphere in which everybody is cared about. Students know that it’s not okay to make fun of others or belittle them. We know it happens, and we can’t get rid of that, but the environment here, particularly for the kids that struggle socially, is one where they feel accepted and safe. They don’t struggle as much as they would in other peer groups.”
The morning’s announcements conclude with an enthusiastic 8th grader talking about an upcoming Student Council sponsored activity—“Crazy Hat Day.” He tells his peers that everyone is permitted to wear a hat to school the next day; the person with the craziest hat wins.
Student Council
The Student Council in the Middle School is made up of two students from each grade. Bruce Bowdon, faculty advisor for the Student Council, says that its purpose is for “students to suggest changes to their environment.” In addition to “Crazy Hat Day,” other activities have included an organized spirit night, where about 70 members from the student body cheered a girls’ volleyball team to victory, and a Thanksgiving Can Contest, where the grade that collected the most canned goods for the needy played the faculty in a game of dodge ball.
At 9:02, just as the bell rings signaling the end of the first class, Mr. McClellan comes on the P.A. and dismisses students by grade-level for mass.
