Name of School: Joy Community School
Location of School: Glendale, Arizona
Transition
Program Objective: to provide a middle school transition program to help prepare students in sixth through eighth grades to walk out into the world and be confident of themselves and servants to others
Summary of Program:
The Wellness Center at Joy Community School started a program this year called H.O.T. Talk: Heroes of Today—Discussing Real Issues. The school director had envisioned a program to help middle school students through difficult transitions by providing education and tools that would benefit them.
At the strategic planning meeting of the Wellness Center, a key initiative was that the school would develop and implement an adolescence transition program for the middle school students. This plan fit in perfectly with the director’s vision.
The Joy Wellness Center members meet six times a year and cover the following objectives:
- "Survivor Skills 101" The school will help students become prepared and more confident for junior high and high school. There are a variety of topics that this objective could include, but the school has chosen multi-intelligence learning styles. Each style is discussed so that all students know at the end of the day what their strongest learning style is.
- "Friendships and Relationships" The school will help students develop positive relationships on campus that will build the middle school community of the school and will also affect the community at large. The students do a variety of activities on friendships, in both small and large groups.
- "Heroes in Action" The school will provide opportunities for the students to reach out to others, instead of allowing the students to think only about themselves. As they focus on serving others, the students choose from a variety of community outreach projects. Examples of projects include visiting senior citizens and delivering cards and candy, cleaning walkers and wheelchairs for residents of an independent-living care center, organizing Angel Tree gifts, and participating in crafts with boys at a foster home.
- "Highway to High School" The school will create a pathway for the students to follow as they prepare for further education so that they will feel confident as they walk into the real world. This objective includes shadowing for the eighth-graders, question-and-answer time with high school counselors, and a packet of information on what the high schools in the area offer.
- "Life Skills" The school will provide positive experiences for students to learn skills they will need in everyday life. Examples include skills in money management, creative cooking, first aid, baby-sitting, and woodworking.
- "Career Day" The school will join a corporation in providing a variety of opportunities for students in the area of career decisions. This objective includes giving students information about careers.
Sample Schedule (12 P.M.–3 P.M.):
Students meet together
Welcome
Prayer (student led)
Special lunch served by student council members
Door prizes
Guest speaker
Group activities
Summary
More door prizes, closing, and prayer
The response to this transition program from students and parents has been incredibly positive. Both are constantly asking, "When are we going to have another H.O.T. Talk?" It has brought a unity among the students.
This program would not work without the dedication of adult leaders. They consist of administrators, middle school staff, church staff, and the parents and grandparents of students. There is approximately 1 adult for every 8 to 10 students. This ratio is crucial for conducting small-group activities, which allow all the students to have time to share or participate in the selected activity.
H.O.T. Talk: Heroes of Today—Discussing Real Issues 5.5