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Patriots Prep Newbies

TRIBUNE PHOTO CANDACE C. MUNDY

Carrollwood Day School's Patriot Society, a group of seventh and eighth graders who have volunteered to be school ambassadors, rehearse for a dance production of "We Rock". The Patriot Society met with incoming sixth graders on Wednesday to help acclimate the new students to the school. The dance was part of the day's activities.

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

LAKE MAGDALENE - Starting middle school is a scary time, whether you know all your classmates from elementary school or are brand new. You're faced with changing classes, more intense academics and unfamiliar buildings.

With fresh memories of those experiences, about 20 seventh- and eighth-graders at Carrollwood Day School volunteered to make the transition easier for their younger schoolmates before classes started Monday.

The older students wrote handwritten welcome notes to the sixth-graders enrolling at the private school. They planned orientation team-building games and provided entertainment. They led tours and hung personalized banners on sixth-grade lockers.

The students are part of the Patriot Society. The student ambassadors must have A- or B-averages, no academic referrals and receive recommendations from three teachers to apply, adviser Anita Szponar said.

The week before school started, society members met to plan orientation activities for sixth-graders. They came up with games to play to get more comfortable around each other and rehearsed songs and dances for orientation.

They planned to dance to "We're All In This Together" from "High School Musical" and grab sixth-graders to bring onstage and join them.

"They're new, they're scared, they don't know what's happening," Szponar reminded the society members. "We're trying to get them involved."

The society's role doesn't end with orientation. Members will act as mentors throughout the school year, helping sixth-graders prepare for tests and improve their organizational skills. They also represent Carrollwood Day School to parents and the community. They attend new parent nights, open houses and community service events.

As representatives, they must look good and be on their best behavior. Students and parents sign a contract where the students agree to conduct themselves politely and arrive at events in casual or dress uniforms, all with tucked-in shirts and belts. Misbehavior or ignoring Patriot Society events can get them dismissed from the group.

The responsibilities didn't bother the students, who said they wanted to participate to spread school spirit or because they remembered being in sixth-graders' shoes.

"I wanted to help welcome new people and help them become part of CDS," said seventh-grader Gabriella Reimer, who has attended Carrollwood Day School since kindergarten.

Isabelle Puppa, 12, had gone to the day school when she was younger and it was at its old location in Odessa. But when she returned last year as a sixth-grader, the school had moved to an unfamiliar building and she had no idea what people were talking about when they referred to stairwells by different names. It also took awhile to make friends, she said.

She signed up for the Patriot Society to help others who might be in her position.

"I was a new student last year," she said. "It was kind of hard at the beginning."

Will Dosher, 12, said the Patriot Society helped him adjust to sixth grade last year and wanted to do the same now that he was old enough.

"I have a lot of friends in sixth grade, and I thought maybe I could help them," Will said.

Most of them have questions about the amount of homework, he said. Ethan Saleh, who is in eighth grade, said sixth-graders want to know whether middle school is more work than elementary school. Eighth-grader Anthony Suarez said he knows some worry about changing classes. As older students, Anthony and Ethan said they liked the opportunity to act as leaders for younger classmates.

Their best tip from their middle school years?

"Don't procrastinate," Anthony said.

"Exactly what he said," Ethan said.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503 or cpastor@tampatrib.com.

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