Teaching community-building at the Orcas Middle School

Seventh-graders pass one of their own through a web of netting in the Middle School Commons

Nancy Wrightsman, Middle School/High School counselor, prepares middle school students for success in high school and beyond through the Life Skills classes offered each quarter.

During the seventh grade, the class concentrates on personal awareness topics such as “Who am I?” “What do I like?” “What do I value?” explained Superintendent Barbara Kline.

The eighth-graders’ topics include budgeting, planning and career choices, which leads to an understanding of high school and college preparation course credit requirements.

“The outcome is that the students are better prepared for high school.” Kline said.

In the April 1 group-building exercise pictured here, seventh-graders build trust as they navigate the holes from one side of the Middle School Commons to the other.

Kline explained that the students all start on one side of the web-like barricade, and must use each hole at least once to send their counterparts from one side to the other.

The exercise involves a lot of planning and leadership skills,” said Kline. “They all start on one side. They have to determine, ‘Who’s a carrier?’  ‘Who’s lifting?’

“Sometimes they don’t listen to each other – but there’s a pretty cooperative culture in this class.”