Fun First Day

Today at Casey Middle School we tried to break the ice with the twenty or so students from about 3 different sixth grade classes. These students will not be able to go to school at the new Casey Middle that will potentially be finished 2 years from the fall. When I asked a few young girls how they were feeling about the change to Platt Middle School they told me that they were sad that they were not going to be able to go to the new school. They said that it is unfair that their ideas will only benefit younger generations. This did not take away from their contributions to our cause. One of these great ideas that a young girl named Sarah told me was that all of the art from the walls of the current Casey Middle School should be taken to Platt Middle and left there. She thought that the students that will transfer to Platt Middle for the 2 years or so should leave their impression on the school because they will make up a significant portion of the student population there. Another reason she thought that the art should be left there and not taken back to the reopened Casey, was that the new students there could start fresh with their new school.
The students before lunch were practically bouncing off the walls. They were so excited to be breaking away from the PowerPoints that they had been working on. Getting outside and allowing these energetic kids to take some pictures of the things about their current school that they either loved or despised. Many of the ideas that the students consistently agreed on were their appeal for the small, intricate spaces that could really allow them to have their own space. The “Secret Stairs” were a small staircase on the backside of the school that I was told was off limits for the most part. I think that the appeal to this area was partially due to the fact that they weren’t allowed to go to this space. The backstage area in the auditorium was also one of these places were every student had to take us on their tour.
I had a great time getting to know all of the students that walked us around, they all wanted to help us improve their school, but they also enjoyed telling us about components of Casey that they would like to see brought over to Platt. We discovered that there are several spaces in the current school design that are extremely successful as well as many places that did not function well. Outdoor play areas were by far the most popular, probably because running around outdoors and climbing on the rock are obvious favorites. A problematic space was the auditorium seating. Every group told us how much they hated being sixth graders because they can never sit at assemblies until they go on to grades seven and eight. This limitation on seating does not seem very welcoming and I think that they would feel much more important to the school if they had a seat. Another popular response that we got was that they did not want to leave Casey in the 1st place which is understandable. Hopefully through this process the students will understand how their current school is unsustainable and how their new school will improve on these fundamental issues.

Brett