PSU Magazine Spring 1996

able to respond to the emotional and physical needs of this age group. She says PSU is developing a course of study and practicum experience that will prepare teachers for this new standard. "I think it's a unique group that chooses middle school teaching," says Noone. Among this group is Connie McDonald, a teacher at Mt. Tabor Middle School who helped found a school within a school at Mt. Tabor, called Cedar Lodge. Sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders are grouped in the same room with the same teacher for three years. They have two elective classes a day in other parts of the school, but the rest of the time they are in this home room. In this program, which has no grades, students help choose the curriculum. They contribute to group projects. And much time is spent discussing personal problems and feelings. "What we do more than anything else is give students a voice," says McDonald, adding that the main reason she helped start the program was the frustration she and her colleagues felt with the fragmented way middle schools are usually structured. Since the program began three years ago, academic performance has improved and drug use has declined, simply because teachers are able to see early warning signs and help students work out their problems. The success of Cedar Lodge has been so great, says McDonald, that the whole school is going to a team-teaching approach to increase the feeling of community. Noordhoff says PSU is preparing student teachers to work in teams as well. Breaking middle schools into teams or "families" helps preserve continuity and a feeling of belong– ing in the adolescent's school life. 6 PSU MAGAZINE SPRING 1996 Students enter middle school at a time when they vitally need these nurturing feelings. And yet the very nature of middle schools works against them. Students who were used to attending a relatively small school that drew from the local neighborhood, with only one teacher per grade, are now thrust into a middle school of as many as 700 students. "It creates a lot of anxiety at a time when adolescents really need a sense of belonging and connectedness," says PSU's Dilafruz Williams. Unless, of course, the middle school is structured in a way that gives a feeling of support. The Environmental Middle School, located within southeast Portland's Abernethy Elementary School was founded, with the help of Williams, to provide this sense of family. The school is small-only 135 students. It offers mixed age classes, with groups that stay together throughout the school year. Each morning begins with an assembly and a song, setting a posi– tive tone for the day. The students spend a part of their week perform– ing outdoor projects that have some kind of positive environmental or community impact. For example, they recently built a public raised bed garden that is accessible for senior citizens and people with physical disabilities. And once a month the students prepare a community meal at the school. The Urban Ecosystems project in north and northeast Portland draws on many of the same ideas. The three school involved are much bigger than the Environmental Middle School-about 1,800 students in all-but through the project they will be infused with the same themes of citizenship, community and relevant learning. Noone says students will help collect data on wild plants and animals from wetland areas near the schools. They'll give the data to the public agencies that manage the areas. Not only will students feel a connectedness with the community, says Noone, but public agencies can look to middle schools as a resource. Noone envisions middle school students doing so much work at places such as Smith and Bybee lakes that they can be guides to the public. It's this very sense of purpose and belonging that educa– tors believe adolescents need as they're looking out onto the dance floor of life. D (John Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer, is a regular contributor to PSU Magazine.)