Cooper Prepares 6th-Graders for Middle School

The beginning of a school year can cause fear at any grade level. But when students are leaving behind the comfort of the elementary school they likely attended for six years, and starting classes in the more hectic middle school environment, stress can be particularly high.

Cooper Middle School aims each summer to make the transition a bit easier for its youngest students. The two-week Countdown to Cooper program, offered each August, gives incoming sixth-graders a chance to make new friends, learn their way around the school and get a handle on their new responsibilities, such as using an assignment notebook.

"There is an academic component, but that's not the primary focus," said Cooper Principal Pamela Kibbons, who noted the program also helps students brush up on reading, writing and math skills.

Team-building activities and projects such as tie-dying T-shirts and a scavenger hunt around the school were also included. Time was also allotted for "a lot of myth-busting" of middle school rumors, said seventh-grade teacher Megan Harris, who was one of four teachers who led this summer's program.

Countdown to Cooper attracted 90 students—nearly one-third of the 275-member incoming class. Kibbons and teachers who ran the program said they were thrilled with the level of participation.

Eighth-grade teacher Margaret Connelly, who has taught sixth-graders in the past, said it's apparent to her which students participate in Countdown to Cooper. They are the ones who know their way around the school and are able to open their lockers when the school year begins.

And while there may still be some back-to-school jitters, the students are more calm.

"It's an excited nervous vs. a terrified nervous," Connelly said. "It's a major jump start."