Enthusiastic launch for Phoenix School
New alternative middle school's 81 students get to know teachers, fellow 'risk-takers'
By PAMELA WILLIS
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The phoenix may have been a mythical bird,
but the concept of something new rising from
something old is alive and well in
Worthington as the new Phoenix Middle School
spreads its wings.
Phoenix, housed within Perry Middle School, is the district's new alternative middle school. It opened with 81 students on Wednesday, Aug. 29.
Time to shine
Principal Jeff Maddox said he couldn't hold back his enthusiasm on the school's first day.
"Our staff has already done some amazing things with students in building relationships with each other and we're really mindful of helping our Phoenix School community really come together, not just in student-to-student interaction, but student-to-teacher interaction as well," he said.
One of the team-building activities teachers created on the first day of school was a sweet but challenging task: building a marshmallow tower with only toothpicks to hold it together.
Global Cultures teacher Beth Cullinan said students were divided into teams of three or four.
"They had 10 minutes to talk as a team, then had to figure out how to build the tallest marshmallow tower," she said. "We had maybe 10 teams, and we gave them a time limit to build the tower."
Cullinan said students also interviewed each other and participated in several other activities designed to help them get to know each other.
"We were so excited to finally meet these kids," she said. "They are a nice group of kids and are mixing well, sitting with different kids at lunch and learning each other's names. It is thrilling to see them come together so well."
Creative start
The typical schedule for a Phoenix seventh-grader begins with a creative hour at 8 a.m., which could include art, music appreciation, instrumental music, voice, industrial arts, drama or fine arts.
Next is Foundations, beginning with silent reading, followed by a class that could include writing, technology, research, speech and media literacy. The hour before lunch is Block I, with integrated math and social studies, and the half-hour after lunch is reserved for physical activity and wellness.
The rest of the day includes academic options, during which students can get help with assignments; Block II and Block III, which are integrated language arts/global cultures and science classes, respectively; and a mastery class, which is focused time to work on the mastery of concepts with staff or school resources.
The schedule calls for a longer-than-usual school day, with the last class ending at 5 p.m., but students who participate in sports may leave at 3:45 p.m., Maddox said.
"As a global cultures teacher, I'm interested in giving students as many cross-cultural experiences as I can," Cullinan said. "We've set up e-mail for students with people from other countries and will have global education graduate students from Ohio State University in to work with us, and some are international students.
"We want to get students out of their comfort zone in terms of people who aren't like them and help them be more open-minded and learn from other cultures," she said.
Cullinan said the Phoenix curriculum emphasizes wellness.
"The students are taking the Presidential Fitness challenge this week, running the mile and doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and we're collecting data so that we can show them the growth they will experience by the end of the school year," she said.
Cullinan said teacher Paul Roman is the physical education/wellness teacher.
"Students have at least a half hour of physical fitness options every day, but more time for wellness activities will also be available," she said. "Each student will have written wellness goals, and in our wellness room, we have fitness equipment such as treadmills and elliptical trainers and stationary bicycles attached to Playstation video games."
'Gets my brain going'
Seventh-grader Hannah Goldenberg said she wanted to go to Phoenix because it was "new and different."
"I liked that they gave us so much time to do homework, so we don't have any to do at home, and the teachers are there if we have questions, instead of asking our parents, who might not know," she said.
Goldenberg also said she enjoys the daily schedule.
"The teachers can teach in blocks and can combine classes and do all the group at once or smaller groups, and I really like all the teachers," she said. "And starting my day with creative art really gets my brain going. I'm doing art and making a portfolio on the computer.
"I think this program will go really far and I would recommend it to any seventh-graders," she said.
Cullinan said the school is off to a good start.
"We feel really strongly that our parents are risk-takers and our kids are risk-takers and we are so excited they took this leap of faith with us," she said. "We are getting all the logistics ironed out and we want to help the kids really grow this year."
Phoenix, housed within Perry Middle School, is the district's new alternative middle school. It opened with 81 students on Wednesday, Aug. 29.
Time to shine
Principal Jeff Maddox said he couldn't hold back his enthusiasm on the school's first day.
"I couldn't stop smiling," he said. "We've been planning and talking about how the school will grow and shine (since) way back in September of last year, but to actually have the kids enter the building and become part of the dream -- it was just awesome. It was an incredible experience and the kids were probably more excited than I was.
"Our staff has already done some amazing things with students in building relationships with each other and we're really mindful of helping our Phoenix School community really come together, not just in student-to-student interaction, but student-to-teacher interaction as well," he said.
One of the team-building activities teachers created on the first day of school was a sweet but challenging task: building a marshmallow tower with only toothpicks to hold it together.
Global Cultures teacher Beth Cullinan said students were divided into teams of three or four.
"They had 10 minutes to talk as a team, then had to figure out how to build the tallest marshmallow tower," she said. "We had maybe 10 teams, and we gave them a time limit to build the tower."
Cullinan said students also interviewed each other and participated in several other activities designed to help them get to know each other.
"We were so excited to finally meet these kids," she said. "They are a nice group of kids and are mixing well, sitting with different kids at lunch and learning each other's names. It is thrilling to see them come together so well."
Creative start
The typical schedule for a Phoenix seventh-grader begins with a creative hour at 8 a.m., which could include art, music appreciation, instrumental music, voice, industrial arts, drama or fine arts.
Next is Foundations, beginning with silent reading, followed by a class that could include writing, technology, research, speech and media literacy. The hour before lunch is Block I, with integrated math and social studies, and the half-hour after lunch is reserved for physical activity and wellness.
The rest of the day includes academic options, during which students can get help with assignments; Block II and Block III, which are integrated language arts/global cultures and science classes, respectively; and a mastery class, which is focused time to work on the mastery of concepts with staff or school resources.
The schedule calls for a longer-than-usual school day, with the last class ending at 5 p.m., but students who participate in sports may leave at 3:45 p.m., Maddox said.
"As a global cultures teacher, I'm interested in giving students as many cross-cultural experiences as I can," Cullinan said. "We've set up e-mail for students with people from other countries and will have global education graduate students from Ohio State University in to work with us, and some are international students.
"We want to get students out of their comfort zone in terms of people who aren't like them and help them be more open-minded and learn from other cultures," she said.
Cullinan said the Phoenix curriculum emphasizes wellness.
"The students are taking the Presidential Fitness challenge this week, running the mile and doing sit-ups and pull-ups, and we're collecting data so that we can show them the growth they will experience by the end of the school year," she said.
Cullinan said teacher Paul Roman is the physical education/wellness teacher.
"Students have at least a half hour of physical fitness options every day, but more time for wellness activities will also be available," she said. "Each student will have written wellness goals, and in our wellness room, we have fitness equipment such as treadmills and elliptical trainers and stationary bicycles attached to Playstation video games."
'Gets my brain going'
Seventh-grader Hannah Goldenberg said she wanted to go to Phoenix because it was "new and different."
"I liked that they gave us so much time to do homework, so we don't have any to do at home, and the teachers are there if we have questions, instead of asking our parents, who might not know," she said.
Goldenberg also said she enjoys the daily schedule.
"The teachers can teach in blocks and can combine classes and do all the group at once or smaller groups, and I really like all the teachers," she said. "And starting my day with creative art really gets my brain going. I'm doing art and making a portfolio on the computer.
"I think this program will go really far and I would recommend it to any seventh-graders," she said.
Cullinan said the school is off to a good start.
"We feel really strongly that our parents are risk-takers and our kids are risk-takers and we are so excited they took this leap of faith with us," she said. "We are getting all the logistics ironed out and we want to help the kids really grow this year."