Week 5 - Culture & Community Impact to Middle School

The final reading this week covered how school culture and the surrounding school community can influence or support the middle school programs.  I found as I read the different characteristics I made notes where my town's middle schools support the different points.

First the school environment should provide a safe environment for the student.  Students should feel secure and comfortable and welcome to the building by all adults and hopefully other students.  This is accomplished when all staff are themselves open, comfortable and welcoming to each other.  When the adults respect each other, this is observed by the students which in turn impacts them to model that same behavior.  I have to say whenever I walk into the middle schools in my town, I am welcomed politely and with a smile.  I am asked regarding my business and over time, due to my numerous volunteering, welcomed with a smile as I am recognized.  It is nice to be recognized as a parent by anyone in the building.  If I as a parent are welcomed, I will be more relaxed when I enter the school or even at home when my son talks about his day.  I have a positive attitude toward the school and that reflects in my tone of discussion with my son.  In addition, each of my sons have different interactions with different teachers and staff and I have never come across an alarming situation where I felt intimidated or unwelcome.  This is huge with students.  I always ask my sons who their "safe" adults are in the school.  Each deals with their own anxieties and need to reach out to school adults since I or my husband are not at the school.  I always am relieved and surprised as to who they may state each school year.  Regardless of who the adult is, my husband and I know our sons are looked after and have someone to talk with regarding an issue.  This transitions well to the next point which is an adult advocate.

My oldest son grew by leaps and bounds socially and emotionally in middle school and I attribute much of this to the adults that influenced and support my son from 6th through 8th grades.  Adult advocates are key for any student regardless of age but I think middle school is when they need it the most.  The student realizes they are no longer that "little" elementary school kid but they are not quite the older teenage high schooler.  They have questions navigating not only academics but friends, other adults, their thoughts, their physical changes or just need to do a brain dump.  Depending on the situation, I knew I could reach out to any of my oldest son's teachers and they would listen and take into account what may be happening in our family with our son.  They were able to reach out to my son in a manner that didn't result in our son figuring out that I may have clued the teacher into the situation.  Other times I may have discussed with the school nurse or one of the social workers in guidance.  They were just reassuring people that just listened and let my son calm down or provide reflection on things.   This is so important.  It helped with my son's mental health and gave him techniques to deal with his thoughts that could affect him physically, like his stomach!  

Next AMLE brings up health & wellness and is supported through the curriculum but also with school programs.  This is so true as it provides a different perspective from different individuals that are not the teachers or staff.  It shows the students that the school adults want to support the student and give opportunities to think differently about topics.  Our district also provides programs for the parents and total family as well.  I know in middle school each grade level receives assemblies or group sessions tackling grade level appropriate topics regarding drugs, friends, mental health and physical health.  Unfortunately, all the great work done at the middle school is not kept up at the high school level and my husband and I actually felt our son regressed in some aspects of advocacy and mental health at this level.  We had to do so much ourselves to combat the negative support at the high school.  Please note there were positive influencers and our son was fortunate to have those teachers each year of his career.  It is just unfortunate that there is a downward turn after the great job done at the middle school level.

Another important aspect is the leverage of the community and local businesses to support the education in any community.  This provides hand-on knowledge and real-life experience within the actual world.  In addition, there are such great opportunities to get to know the history and development of their town.  Locally I have seen how some businesses sponsor events for students or for parents.  In turn the schools support the local businesses especially restaurants!  In some cases the local sandwich shop or deli would set up a small menu for a basketball or football game.  There are contests that are run to support our local sweet shops.  We have many and the students always are excited to have an opportunity to win a gift certificate for answering trivia questions from the library.  Again my family is fortunate to live a such a supportive community that goes beyond the student's family.

Finally the student's family is key to support the student and their middle school.  I alluded to this earlier but if students and parents have positive interactions with staff, this sets the stage for a positive tone that carries into the school day and any school activities.  Even when situations are difficult or not positive, the strong interactions and relationships developed with the school and staff creates a hopeful and better discussion.  Everyone is more willing to work together and hear what is being said and work toward an agreed solution.  I remember a parent teacher conference where we were tackling distracting behavior. My husband and I already had strong relationships with the teachers and we went into the meeting hopeful and willing to work it out.  We were not defensive and accusatory toward the teachers and administration.  We were more willing to hear other ideas or solutions to get through the meeting and find a resolution or path for the future.  We all worked together as a team because we all had a vested interest in our son.  This also helps our son feel comfortable and know he has people in his corner.

Overall AMLE has strong directives and the readings were informative and presented logically.  It provided in me such hope and excitement for my future as an educator.  I will be curious when I do more observation and student teaching how other middle school programs work and if they are using the AMLE model in any way.