CCMS program has eighth graders serving as mentors to fifth graders

Superintendent Casey Jaynes recognized several eighth graders who, starting this year, have mentored incoming fifth graders and served as ambassadors at Carroll County Middle School.

The students were awarded plaques and pins for their hard work at a school board meeting on Oct. 19.

The program, called Where Everybody Belongs — or WEB Leaders for short — involves eighth graders mentoring incoming fifth graders and raising awareness of the school in the community. The participants have conducted guided tours for community members, showing them classrooms and hosting them for lunch, among other activities.

The program was founded by Brandy McIntyre, the school’s social worker; Shelby Jones, the Family Resource and Youth Service Center (FRYSKy) coordinator; and Kyndal Yager, the school counselor and began this year.

“It’s really a middle school orientation transition and mentoring program for our fifth graders,” Robin Stephenson, the middle school principal, said. She collaborates with McIntyre, Jones, and Yager to provide opportunities for the WEB Leaders to step up and present their leadership skills.

She said the program helps fifth graders become more confident and comfortable in the middle school while transitioning to a new environment. “It presents an opportunity for our eighth graders to help with that transition and that acclamation to a middle school environment,” she said, noting the interaction lasts the entire first year for the new fifth graders. “They meet with them on a regular basis, they go to their fifth grade classrooms, they’re paired with a fifth grader. It just decreases intimidation.”

Several of the WEB leaders, along with their families, attended the school board meeting to be recognized for their contributions. “We really thank you for what you’ve done this year for your school,” Jaynes told the students.

He said he has heard “nothing but positive comments about how well you represented yourselves and your school and your community.”

The WEB leaders included: Alex Bolton, Kailynn Davis, Milee Dickerson, Mollie Gardner Curtis King, Emily Laib, Addison Mazza, Dane Mefford, Stephanie Garcia-Mejia, London Miller, James Polley, Bailey Rose, Brooklyn Rose, Madeline Sanchez, Amberlee Schooler, Jocelyn Shishler, Chase Warren, Molly Young and Dylan Zacarias.

Part of the process of becoming a WEB Leader is being able to maintain their own grades, be able to demonstrate ROAR expectations — being Responsible, taking Ownership, Acting Safely, and being Respectful — and having references from two teachers and filling out an application on why they think they are a good candidate for WEB leader.

The eighth graders involved in the program also received training as mentors last summer right before school started.

One of the first activities they did was the toothpaste challenge. They were told to squeeze out an entire tube of toothpaste and then told to put the toothpaste back into the tube using only a toothpick. “It was an analogy of, you know, once you say things, it’s really hard to take them back, just like the toothpaste,” Stephenson explained.

Another activity that the students did at the seminar was called “Dirty Laundry,” an activity where if someone tells you something private or secretive, you shouldn’t be telling others.

“Not only is it really kind of a symbiotic relationship where it helps our fifth graders, but it also helps our eighth graders develop those soft skills that they’re going to need for high school and beyond,” Stephenson said.

Apart from their role as mentors for fifth graders, the WEB leaders are also selling candy bars to raise money for the organization to go on a group field trip at the end of the school year.

Jaynes expressed his pride in the WEB Leaders and how positive they’ve been to the middle school and the community. “It shows a lot of good things that are going on here in the middle school and the changes that are being made to help those kids be leaders in the community later on in life,” he said.

In other business, the board approved a memorandum of understanding with Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky to provide services to the schools.

The next working board meeting will be on Nov. 7 and the next regular school board meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Nov. 16.