Helper Middle School puts character in curriculum

CARBON SCHOOL DISTRICT
    One of the advantages of having a small student body in a school is that administration and staff know every student by name.
    At Helper Middle School this also means knowing what is behind those names.
    “Teachers have a lot of influence on students,” says Mika Salas, principal at the school. “You never know when what you say will impact a student for a long time. That’s why we have to be careful sarcasm or a negative things said because you never know when something may hurt a student for the long term. They are vulnerable and we have to be careful. The foundation of the whole relationship is that they know you care about them.”
    The school has set goals to help students in many ways over the years, and while their main goal has always been academics, the whole student is important.
    One of the things that many people don’t think about is that even high achieving students, students who are involved in activities and are active at school, may have problems, too. 
    “It is our job to set a baseline for students so we can determine when things aren’t going right in their lives,” Salas said. “Some kids act out when something is wrong, while with others it is difficult to see.”
    Salas says the experience that kids get from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. everyday should be positive regardless of what is going on outside of their school life.
    Sometimes a project the faculty is doing in building character is working. One was the signs on lockers that were put up during Christmas break and were there for the kids to see when they returned to school. Salas said students were really taken by that. While some of the signs came down within a few days, none were vandalized and in fact a few still remain on the lockers in the hallways.
    “It was the care that was shown,” she said. “The care to see that every single child felt that positivity of our school was wonderful.”
    Salas said the project was solely due to the work of Nikki Vasquez, the school counselor, who spent many hours over Christmas break putting together the information, designing, creating and then putting the signs on each students’ locker. She said it is a bigger part of how the staff works with students to build character and teach them values.
    “It is just a part of what we are trying to do to build kids up,” she said. “If that had been the only thing we did all year, it would be a hollow gesture.”
    Part of building character is having expectations and guiding kids through the whats and whys of doing the right things.
    “One of the things we do is a Student Achievement Workshop (SAW),” said Salas. “During the PLC’s (professional learning community time) we identify the students who need help with skills. But in addition to that we also look for students who have a “will” problem, in that they don’t do their homework, they are not catching up or they are behind in some way.”
    “Students sometimes think that we are mean, we don’t like them or that we like to torture them,” she said with a smile. “But then we tell them that we do care about them and we just don’t want them to be people who let stuff go.”
    These are important life and job skills as well as skills for college readiness. She said students are told they will not be successful in any of those areas if they don’t follow through on tasks. Consequences of action or non-action are important points students learn in school.
    “Learning about those things are just as important as the academics,” she said. “It is important for kids to believe in themselves and to have people pay it forward to help them.”
    As for the school year, Salas said it has been a very good one and they are at the core of it now.
    “We are into the real meat of the school year,” she said. “The January through March time period is just a really good teaching time. The activities slow down a little and the core tests become the goal so it is a valuable time to instruct students.”
    Transition each year for kids coming and going to middle schools is a big topic of conversation right now. She said the district is working on ways to make the transition for students from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school better.
    Planning for next year is already going on with a matrix for schedules and planning for goals being set. There is a lot of planning that goes on that is not apparent to those outside of education.
    As for activities, winter sports have wrapped up and spring sports are just beginning. Other activities such as the Quiz Bowl and Lego League have been going on with great success.
    The school sent three student winners to the Spelling Bee competition last month, Jared Saccomanno, Conner Fitzsimmons and Harley Olsen.
    For Valentine’s the school had a dance during the day in which Aubrey Carpenter, a dance instructor, came in and did line dancing with the students. Students also made Valentine’s cards for people that are in care facilities in the area.
    Overall Salas said it has been a great year so far.
    “We have the best faculty here; they are just wonderful.”