Middle Schoolers are not called “‘tweens” for nothin’.  They are in between the innocence of childhood and on the brink of understanding real world problems.  They are growing, sometimes shockingly, overnight!  They may not understand their emotions as hormones begin to influence how they feel and think.  They are goofy, giggly, growing, gregarious, gangling, gabby, groggy, and gross – all of which plays a huge role in their self esteem and confidence moving forward.  One goal of the Middle School program at PNA is to help them understand these things about themselves in a supportive environment of friends who are feeling weirdly the same way.

Taking the time to do this while allowing Middle Schoolers to be themselves is likely the BIGGEST TAKEAWAY PNA graduates have as they enter high school. PNA graduates are grounded in who they are.  They are confident and able to navigate the challenging social pressures they will likely encounter in high school. PNA grads are pushed them into positions of leadership based on this confidence as well as their academic focus.  While there are many social opportunities throughout each day that are “teachable moments”, the PNA Middle School also addresses potential issues more formally through the weekly Advisory Program.

For Advisory, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are split into three multi class groups, each with one classroom teacher and one specialist teacher. Every Friday, these groups meet in place of regular morning meeting.  The idea behind the Advisory is to provide students with a “team” outside their normal friend group who they get to know better and count on.  The Advisory meetings last a bit longer than the typical morning meeting.  Usually there is a morning message that primes the students about what the discussion topic will be.  Last week the message was:

Today we will be talking about the qualities of a good friend.  What characteristics do you look for in a good friend?  Write a quality or characteristic on a Post-it note and add it to the poster.  You can write as many as you like.

As you can tell from a message like this one, the discussion is aimed at getting students to talk about what they expect a good friend to be.  In this case, after reviewing each quality added to the poster, students were asked to rate themselves (privately) on the qualities that, as a group, were selected to demonstrate those of a good friend.  Advisory is a place where students can learn what others think and reflect on where they sit with that.  It is a safe place where students can learn about themselves.

To be able to open up and share feelings with one another doesn’t happen overnight.  First, students have to get to know each other and the best way to do that is to have fun!!!  Of course food is always included as are games.  There may even be a bit of mischief involved, harnessing the comradery necessary to bring about that level of trust that allows for deeper sharing among friends.

Middle Schoolers find themselves at a new level of social discovery, making this age critical in their development moving forward.  When these ‘tweens are able to be their goofy, giggly, growing, gregarious, gangling, gabby, groggy, and gross selves without the ridicule of peers and with the watchful Guidance of teachers, they can more quickly and confidently understand who they are.  These students are (oh Gee!) – Grounded.