The balloons are out, the flowers are in bloom, I smell summer. I smell a summer like no other. Not because the groundhog came out early this year, or because I was one year older, but because I was a graduate, from Gilkey International middle school (finally). Sophie comes up to me yelling, super excited for the night ahead, graduation. As we rehearse our ceremony, in our high inched heels and dainty fake eyelashes Charlie runs up behind us screaming in our ear jumping us out of our own skin.
February sixth was the day of my last middle school game. We were playing our rivals , Ledford middle school. The first time we played them we only lost by two points. The first five starters for Ledford and our first five including myself were all standing at half court for tip off. The ref. threw the ball up and Gillian tipped it back to me.
Many students want to go home and please their parents with a good test score. It makes them feel accepted. To a child, their parents being proud of them is the best thing that they could receive. But in middle school, many students are failing those tests, getting bad grades. The only difference between elementary school and middle school is more individual topics and recess.
In 7th grade, I transferred from Bryan Middle school to Visitation Catholic School and there was not enough room in the accelerated math program, which ultimately set me behind. In high school, I found myself bored in math and knew I needed to challenge myself, so I ended up setting up a meeting with the math department head and we discussed my options. Sophomore year, I ended up taking two math classes, which was not easy; double the test, quizzes and lessons! However, by taking two math classes, I was able to get myself into a higher math class which ultimately was my goal, and achieving it was an amazing feeling.
There it was, standing in the distance, a tall gloomy gray-colored building. With a few splashes of blue paint added to the dull cement to add color to what would otherwise be a lifeless building. This building was non-other than the one and only Stoller Middle School. I never referred to it as a middle school but more as a prison, it was full of rules that were put in place just to suck away any possible fun from a child’s mind. Maybe I didn’t like the place because I was suspended five times from it.
When it comes to sports my family has many ties to Middletown High School South. In the Going as far back as the 1980’s when my Dad attended the same high school. He was a standout wrestler for the team and was given multiple scholarships to wrestle in college. My family name is everywhere within the trophy rooms and walls of Middletown South. I am the youngest of three children with two older sisters coming through high school before me.
That means that how a student is grown up in middle school is very important. In middle school kids need to prepare for high school. This means they need to be more adult like and not child like. Recess is for young children who have lots of energy to blow off. Middle schoolers do not, so they do not need recess.
I’ve always wondered why people with a little or a lot of power tend to treat you unjustly. I’ve experienced many times when people with power treated me poorly. There were times in school with teachers, in school with principles and even out in public places. When I experienced these moments they made me feel like there were something wrong with me or I was different. Also, it made me feel like I was different from others… but not in a good way.
The ideal model of schooling for young adolescents is the middle school model. The middle school model allows for a smooth transition from elementary school to middle school. The model also takes into consideration the developmental needs of adolescents. The middle school model best fits the uniqueness of the young middle school learner.
In the future, once I enter high school, I will be familiar with the majority of the material that a high school student must learn in later years. However, because I attended middle school, I will enter the ninth grade having learned some of the material. The lessons learned in middle school are not specific. I develop strong writing skills that I can apply in high school. Additionally, middle school taught me the importance of time management and organization, which are crucial skills that will help me succeed in high school and beyond.
Middle school was a confusing time for me; my parents had separated, we had moved to an area that had a tremendous amount of crime, and by my seventh grade year I no longer had an after-school program to attend. The center my brother and I attended lost its funding for teen programming. It wasn’t surprising that all of my core classes my 6th-grade year, were all “advanced.” I was one of two students who graduated my elementary school with all A’s.
Surely such grave things about oblivion, emptiness, death and fire cannot apply to middle school, some may propose. I must disagree however. Middle school is fork in the road that
Growing up, my father was in the army so we moved quite a bit. All of the elementary schools that I attended were either private international schools or schools on military bases. It wasn’t until middle school, when my dad retired from the military, that I first experienced a public school. The middle school I attended was very culturally and economically diverse, as was my high school.
Students like Jasmine have way more homework than they should have, which can greatly impact their lives. Many simple things in kids lives are affected because of too much homework. If homework was to be cut down, student’s lives would change in jerasticly in good ways. Middle school teachers should give students less homework. First, a kid’s mental health and life can be affected by too much homework in many ways.
I remember when I was going to start school. The school I went to was called Lincoln Elementary. It was just a short four streets down from my house. I was a little nervous and slightly scared to go. I didn’t want to have to leave home and be gone for so long.