Jackson students work together to get to know each other

As a way of helping students get to know each other, Jackson Middle School this week held its annual team-building exercises for its sixth-grade students to help them get to know and trust each other.

"We do team-building with just our sixth-graders and one of the reasons that we do this is because, in the Jackson School District, this is the first time all students come together in one building," principal Janelle Pope said. Students come from multiple elementary schools, parochial schools, or are new to the district, she said.

The exercises, which have been conducted for many years, are a way of helping students understand what their strengths and weaknesses are and how to use those to work with other people, Pope said.

"First and foremost, it's a way for students to get to know one another and build relationships with other students they don't know," Pope said. "We've found, especially in the middle grades, kids have a hard time figuring out who they are and where they fit in -- what sort of group they fit in with."

The activities over the three-day exercise are divided into five stations and resemble what was offered last year, Pope said. One of the whole-team activities at the conclusion of the icebreaker is called "Cross the Line" where students are asked to step across the line if they've been bullied or been a bully.

Zane Lawrence-Collier tags his assigned number during a game of key punch at a team-building exercise Wednesday at Jackson Middle School.

"It gets the kids to think about how that affects them and getting it to stop," Pope said.

The exercises last three days -- through today -- and run from 8:30 to about 11 a.m. with different students each day. It involves about 370 students and 20 staff and teachers. Students were divided into teams based on the theme of superheroes, so there was an Avengers team, a Justice League team and a Transformers team, assistant principal Michael Martin said.

Most of the activities took place outside on school grounds.

"There [are] five different stations that the students go through. Each one is designed to bring about a lessons about working with others and teamwork," Pope said.

On Wednesday, students did everything from trying to figure out how to get through an obstacle course with various styles of small orange, traffic-style cones on their heads to trying to get through a hula hoop while holding hands in a circle as fast as possible.

Incoming sixth-graders Kenzie Hockersmith, Hunter DeClue, Daniel Dickerson, Lexi Tucker, Riley Franklin and Makenna Wessell all said they had fun and that the exercises will help them help each other get through the school year. They also said it gave them a chance to meet people and make friends, instead of hanging out with people they knew from their other schools.

"It's nice to be able to get to know people you've never met before," Franklin said.

"I think it's also helping us to greet other people who are new," Tucker said. She added that when she first came to middle school, she had butterflies, but after her teacher helped her, she made friends and it was "a lot easier."

Dickerson said he was excited about attending a new school. "I heard good things, like you could talk in the halls," he added, noting his aunt works in the school kitchen.

Wessell took in the bigger picture.

"I think it's really empowering to think we can work as a team so well as a school. I think it's nice that we can come together as a team and work together as a school," Wessell said. " ... I think it will help me for a long time just to know I can help other people when they need help."

The stations focus on:

* Communicating with each other and not spreading rumors. At this stop, there is discussion about bullying, Pope said.

* Helping each other when you're part of a team.

* Thinking outside the box, because sometimes even when you're working together on a team, you may have to ask an adult for help, for example. This was true in the punch key exercise when students had to touch disks with numbers on them -- in order -- to ensure a building didn't explode.

* Thinking of the team's goal as truly a team goal. The team does not achieve its objective unless every single person on it is successful.

* And focusing on strengths -- who is the best at different things -- to be successful as a team.

Pope said she and participating teachers spend some time at the end of the exercises talking to students about the activities and how they affect their larger lives, including their families. The process also helps teachers figure out which students have leadership strengths and who are the quiet ones who may have great ideas.

With teachers participating, they get to know the students better and notice their various attributes.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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1651 W. Independence St., Jackson, Mo.