February 2019 Newsletter: School Spotlight — Middle School Launches 8th Grade Community Project

Last month, Shaker Heights Middle School launched the Community Project, a new collaborative service project for all eighth grade students. The Community Project provides an opportunity for eighth graders to develop attributes of the International Baccalaureate learner profile, build their approaches to learning skills, take action on a community issue and foster the development of lifelong learning. 

Addie Tobey, the Middle Years Programme Coordinator at Woodbury and Shaker Heights Middle School, says that the Community Project was two years in the making. “We felt like there was a service project gap between Woodbury Creating Change and the Tenth Grade Personal Project,” says Ms. Tobey. “One way to keep kids engaged as IB learners and to grow participation in the Tenth Grade Personal Project was to initiate this new program.”

During the Community Project, students will meet with their Middle School teacher-mentors ten times on a direct or indirect service project of their choosing. Projects can range from writing a letter to a company/organization or simply leaving kind/inspirational messages on student lockers. Students are not assigned to a group, instead they self-select. “We talked to schools in other large districts and they told us that allowing students to self-select gave the students a sense of empowerment and pride. We want students to celebrate what they have in common,” Ms. Tobey explains. “Overall, our goal is to emphasize the importance of service learning and to show our students that they can have a voice locally.”

Parents, family, staff, and community members are invited to listen to student presentations about their respective community projects on February 21, from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Middle School.