Middle Misconceptions

This post is focussed on a presentation that our new campus principal provided to a group of our <school city> Chamber of Commerce members recently.  Ms. Principal read her presentation to our staff during our Christmas PTA luncheon and I was inspired enough by it that I want to share it, with her permission, with anyone in my blog audience who has matriculated through middle school, taught/teaches middle school, and/or has a child who has or will step foot into middle school as a student.  I admit that I'm a prime target audience member for motivational speeches, books, and other media, but I hope you find it as refreshing and insightful as I did.

Side-note:  Ms. Principal, as I stated, is new to our campus and she's doing a 1000% remarkable job in leading our efforts.  I knew she would, though, before she began day one.  Her reputation in the district is sterling and, besides, she's a fellow East Texas gal...say no more.

Take a moment sometime to read this at your leisure.  The first video reference (link: Acts of Kindness Caught On Video is one you may have seen previously.  I can't personally drink in enough of images like that.  There is a second video referenced, but for student privacy I have not included it here.  Beyond that, replace the school name, district name, and any other identifiers and you have a glimpse into any middle school in America, where there are many magical - yet not headline grabbers - things developing: (pardon any wonky formatting resultant from my inept blogger formatting skills)

"Good morning!  Thank you for allowing me to share that video with you.  I love this video, and I love expecting the unexpected.  Just like a security camera catching good things instead of bad, I want to share with you this Holiday Season, the good news and glad tidings about middle school, middle school kids in CFB, and more specifically about Vivian Field Middle School.  This Christmas, let me give you one more good thing to believe in – our middle schools and the kids who go to them.

It was the most exhilarating as well as the scariest moment of my career when Dr. Burns told me that I would become the next principal at Vivian Field Middle School.  When I drove up to the school on the first day at 6am and took a good look at this beautiful building, I thought to myself, “this building is over 50 years old and yet it offers the generation that will pay for my retirement in taxes and civic duties THE education of the future.  As I started to step out of my car, and it hit me, I’ve spent 16 years in a high school loving and coaching high school kids, how in the world will I connect with 11, 12, and 13 year olds?  Most people are scared of kids, and terrified of a middle school kid.   Most parents are too. Their minds are filled with equal parts worry and nostalgia about their children’s entrance into this baffling no-man’s-land between child and teen. Most adults say the most humiliating experience of their lives took place in middle school (or junior high, as it was called then), and many parents in the cafeteria remember their own preadolescence as the worst time of their lives: The awkward changes of puberty and the obsessions that entailed. The fumbling steps toward independence. The cliques. Being too embarrassed to sneeze in public. Getting dropped off at the corner and thinking everyone else was smarter, happier, better.

What stopped me from getting out of my car on that Monday was Hollywood.  Hollywood has painted middle school as a place where bullies thrive and nice kids are either dead or home-schooled by March.  Movies and books that honor this image are, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and the book:  Middle School:  The Worst Years of my Life by James Patterson with the follow up by the same author titled:  Middle School:  Get Me Out of Here! All this coming from a man who writes psychological thrillers…what does that say?

Well if you knew anything about me, I am not scared of much…except negativity.  I had to see for myself if middle school was different and start work immediately on changing the public image of middle school.  So, I said a little car prayer (one of the most powerful kind, I believe)  and fortunately for me, it would be simple work because middle school is vastly different from the negative image that Hollywood portrays.  Allow me to share with you during this Holiday season some good news to BELIEVE in and some very different truths about middle school.

 You might be surprised to know that although the whole nation concerns itself with the drop out rate, we know that kids decide whether or not they will become a drop out in middle school, not high school. This is a critical age for deciding whether or not school will be for them.  The adults on this campus understand the effect a positive adult relationship has on a student leaving childhood and entering the teen years.  Each and every morning our nearly 1000 students walk toward our cafeteria door with their head up and hand extended to be greeted by me or another adult on this campus with, “welcome to school”, “thank you for being at school today”, “we are so excited to see you today” and of course always followed with “have a great day at school!”  We know that this starts the very powerful emotional contagion of positivity on our campus. 

***BELIEVE this Christmas that middle school is mission critical to student success.

You might be surprised to know that kids today LONG to belong to something, and I’m not talking about a gang – unless you consider band, choir, theatre, athletics, and orchestra to be a gang.  Vivian Field has 318 athletes, 97 Karate Kickstart members,  173 choir members, 206 orchestra members, 241 band members, and 128 thespians.  For a school of nearly 1000 that means that we have found a way to connect nearly every kid in our school to an organization and a caring adult on our campus. 

***BELIEVE this Holiday season  that kids want to be involved in organizations that  give discipline and structure because kids think discipline is the guardrail that keeps you on the road of life.

 You might be surprised that kids today make better decisions than generations before.  Our kids think that being “smart” is a good thing.  We have 107 8^th graders choosing advanced mathematics that will put them on the path to BC Calculus as a senior in high school.  Some of those 107 are labeled as gifted talented.  We have a total of 76 GT students on our campus.  We have 24 students enrolled in Advanced Placement Spanish Language, and could be eligible to test for college credit, right now, in the 8^th grade!  We have 24 yearbook students that create a collegiate level yearbook.

***BELIEVE that kids can do more, they want to achieve and become contributing members of our society.

Speaking of college, you might be surprised to know that ALL of our students aspire to do and be more than a high school graduate.  How do we know?  We asked them.  PLUS, we have 155 students enrolled in AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination).  I myself am a first generation college graduate and understand fully the struggle of applying and maneuvering my way through a system strange to both me and any member of my family.  Thanks to AVID, these 155 have actually seen a college campus and can talk with great specificity about their college hopes, goals and dreams. 

***BELIEVE that kids think and care about their future.

You might be surprised to know that Vivian Field offers a magnet program through Dual Language program where students learn in Spanish and English.  They partner with each other to learn the lessons, and test in both languages. 

***BELIEVE that kids today appreciate diversity and want to live in harmony.

You might be surprised to know that kids in middle school today truly believe that effort produces achievement and that is evidenced in the positive trendline of out student achievement data. 

***BELIEVE that kids understand the goals of their education and why it’s so important to think critically and problem solve.

You might be surprised to know that Albert Einstein was wrong, and not about E=MC2 but when he said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction.  The world will have a generation of idiots.”  Our kids are far from idiots.  We have implemented our BYOT or Bring Your Own Technology to school and we see students using their phones to promote social interaction instead of squash it. 

***BELIEVE kids want to be engaged with other people. 

You might be surprised to know that kids today care deeply about the world in which they live in.  They spend their spare time collecting money for world organizations such as the Kony 2012, for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and to fight to stop the shots for Diabetes.  These kids are more concerned about being next on the waiting list for our Partners Art and PE where they partner with a non verbal special needs student.  They are more concerned about  recycling and saving our planet than the brand of tennis shoe they wear. 

***BELIEVE kids are good, kind, helpful and out to save the planet!

You might NOT be surprised to know that CFB offers a comprehensive system preK-12 and we are the best at each level at our instructional practice for our students to succeed; but, you would be surprised at the level of innovation taking place at our middle schools through practices that ask students to get involved help drive their learning.

 

*** BELIEVE that we are working to meet the needs of you as future employers.

Although I shared with you that one of my greatest fears is that of negativity… you might be surprised to know that negativity is nowhere to be found in the students of VFMS.  Although 82% come from homes of poverty – defined by the government as a family of four making it on less than 18K a year, they are full of wonder, hope and positivity.  Since education is the great equalizer, our staff works hard at providing  each of our students with access to the American Dream .

The Vivian Field family spirit is undeniable.  We have many visitors to our building who are amazed at the work happening in our school and with the kids who walk through our doors.  I could go on and on…about why we should believe in our kids, our future Ambassadors, and we have so much to be proud of at Vivian Field Middle School.  But the thing I am most proud of is something that cannot be quantified.  I am most proud of the incredible culture of our school.  The students and staff truly and genuinely care about and support each other in way that I believe is unique in today’s world.  If you aren’t convinced this Holiday season to believe just yet, I decided to leave you with another bit of the unexpected.  You are about to watch a video over the culture of Vivian Field.  This video was filmed, edited and produced by future Hollywood member, ___________,, one of our current 8^th graders.  Sit back and get ready to believe in what our kids can do, for they can tell you better than I can that unlike the Hollywood image, middle school really is the good life, so I ask you to turn your attention once again to the screen.

VIDEO

I thank you for your time and the opportunity to share the great things happening in our public school. I invite you to stop by anytime to help me greet kids and see for yourself the opportunities which abound at Vivian Field Middle School."