Expansion of Middle School Leadership Opportunities

Middle School is the pinnacle of each St. Patrick’s student’s exploration of their own voices, ideas, and interests. Having graduated its 20th class in June, the Middle School has experienced dramatic enrollment and program growth since its opening in 2002. Head of School Peter A. Barrett was a major catalyst in the development and launch of the Middle School and was responsible for overseeing the expansion of the MacArthur Campus from just a handful of students to 140 students in the 2021-2022 school year. While our MIddle School has grown significantly over its 21 years of existence, the determination to know, nurture, and challenge each student remains at the center of the program. 

Despite the logistical challenges of the coronavirus pandemic over the last three years, the Middle School has expanded its leadership opportunities for students. While some opportunities, like Student Leadership Council, have been a part of the program’s fabric for many years, other opportunities, like our Lean into Leadership periods, are the result of student interest and energy. In each space, students are able to deepen their understanding of self and others and, through this work, use their voices for the common good.

Monday mornings start with Assembly on the MacArthur Campus, a time when we draw together as an academic division to share in successes and celebrations, to orient students to the week ahead, and to learn about topics of importance to the community. Over time, we have increasingly turned Assembly over to our Student Leadership Council (SLC) representatives, whose duties include leading community shout-outs and birthday announcements, as well as reporting on important SLC initiatives. SLC representatives gather suggestions from their classmates for community activities, help to run our school store, and generally help voice the concerns or desires of the students to faculty and administration. SLC members also support the initiatives of other students, such as a coin collection for Save the Children, suggested by a Grade 6 student to support Ukrainian refugees. Other students also have opportunities to take leadership in Assemblies. Most recently, members of our Library Helpers have begun sharing book talks, summarizing books for other students and encouraging their peers to enjoy good titles. Finally, all students have opportunities to participate by sharing announcements at the end of each session. The experience of speaking to 140 assembled Middle School students is a powerful one, and students take pride in leading their peers.

Following Monday morning Assembly is our Clubs Period. Many of our clubs are either the result of student initiatives or opportunities to promote student voices and visions. This year, two Grade 8 students began a Creative Challenge Club, focused on the visual arts. Another student wanted to create a space for conversation about current issues in sports, and so a Sports Club was born. A student with a passion for shelter dogs partnered with a staff member who has a passion for service dogs, and our Helping Dogs Club came into being. Our Clover Club members work tirelessly to publish our student literary magazine, The Clover, contributing their own work but also seeking submissions from their classmates. And members of our Yearbook Club take pride in photographing student participation in all of our clubs and help to make each year’s publication unique. While these are just a few examples, all clubs also foster collaborative relationships, a key dimension of effective student leadership.

Beyond SLC and Clubs Period, Lean into Leadership (LiL) has become  a new way for us to carve out time during the week for student-driven leadership groups. These groups include our student affinity groups—C3 (Culture, Creed, and Community, our Black student affinity group), PAWS (Practicing Anti-Racism Among White Students), and MacAsia (our affinity group for students who identify as Asian or Asian American)—as well as our Gender and Sexuality Alliance and Chapel Council. In each of these groups, students take leadership both in their groups and in the wider community to foster greater human understanding. Classmates listen much more closely to their fellow classmates in Middle School, and the students in each of these groups play an important role in shaping the culture of inclusiveness.

Finally, as a program that prides itself on its attentiveness to each student, St. Patrick’s is always looking for ways to cultivate and encourage individual student interests and passions. During the 2021-2022 school year, a Grade 8 student in our Environmental Service Club collaborated with our Director of Environmental Sustainability Sam Mason to refurbish and reinvigorate our two grow towers, making space for the growth of fresh, edible greens in our science lab. Reaching beyond our campus, one of our Grade 6 students with a passion for animals met virtually with a University of Maryland junior studying animal science to learn more about how to pursue such an interest in college or graduate school. Similarly, some of our C3 students enjoyed a personal tour of Howard University, led by Grade 8 student-teacher Alpha Diallo. Developing the habit of networking, as well as exploring beyond the classroom, has helped our students envision the career and goal-oriented spaces of their futures. 

St. Patrick’s makes clear in our Mission Statement that we always keep this future in mind: “We are committed to developing character, advancing human understanding, and promoting academic excellence to shape engaged citizens who live with integrity, empathy, and purpose.” What better way to nurture these future citizens than to honor their developing sense of self and cultivate their leadership in these formative Middle School years? We trust that they leave St. Patrick's prepared for challenge and confident in themselves in ways that make their next communities better.  And, of course, we look forward to when they return to campus to share about their growth, insights, and ongoing exercises in leadership.

ASHLEY II, OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL SERVICE DOG IN TRAINING

At Warrior Canine Connection, an organization dedicated to the raising and training of service dogs to assist recovering veterans, each puppy is named to honor a particular veteran and that individual’s contribution to community and country. Naming a pup in honor of one of our nation’s dedicated veterans is a way to recognize and remember the gifts of that particular individual and that individual’s life of service. Whether that pup becomes a mobility service dog, therapy dog, or veteran family support dog, the puppy honors the veteran for whom it is named through its own life of service, made possible by the efforts of a community dedicated to its training.

Our Middle School students had the opportunity to participate in the training of one of these service dogs starting in January of 2022. We hosted a visit from one of Warrior Canine Connection’s SDiTs (Service Dogs in Training) as part of a service dog pilot presence at school, and ever since, Ashley has become an integral part of the MacArthur Campus. Members of our Helping Dogs Club and other students who wished to participate worked with Assistant Head of Middle School/Director of Secondary School Placement Amy Yount ‘77 designed a rich experience for our four-legged friend, one that has shaped a possible future and, we hope, the future of our involvement with this program. 

Several students traveled on an afternoon in April to the headquarters of the Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), a nonprofit organization in Montgomery County that trains dogs to support veterans and with which we have a partnership that brought us Ashley. Inspired by WCC’s work in support of our nation’s veterans, Assistant Head of Middle School/Director of Secondary School Placement Amy Yount, who is Ashley’s current Puppy Parent, has believed for many years in the healing power of dogs, having raised a therapy dog a number of years ago, and was impressed that WCC engages veterans in the training of its service dogs for fellow veterans. Joining our Middle School students for this field trip were several of our families with members who are military veterans. Ashley’s name is in honor of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ashley Burris, who served from 2004 to 2012.

While at WCC, students met an Ambassador Dog and learned about the practice of naming the service dogs after veterans. They also had the privilege of meeting with one of WCC’s experienced dog trainers and saw a dog that has progressed to the advanced stages of its training. Finally, the students spent time with multiple puppies—which, not surprisingly, was a highlight of the visit. Most WCC puppies are Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers like Ashley, or a combination. 

This opportunity was another wonderful part of our partnership with WCC. We look forward to growing this partnership and continuing to engage Ashley with her doring human classmates in the Middle School.