Program Gives Seventh-Graders A …Smooth Start

Shane Simmons has had a lot on his mind.

As a new seventh-grader, his carefree summer thoughts have slowly been mixing with vexing questions. What if I can’t open my locker? Where is my locker? Where do I get the bus? When will it pick me up? What if I can’t find my classes?

They are points likely pondered by many seventh-graders as they count down to their first day.

But thanks to the Smooth Start program, most graduates of Holmes and Audubon elementary schools will enter Glover Middle School today less bothered by such concerns. Along with their backpacks, they carry an extra ounce of been-there-done-that confidence — plus a new binder.

“I was worried about where my classes were gonna be,” 12-year-old Simmons said during the program, “but this’ll be easy!”

Last week, on separate days, former Holmes and Audubon students boarded a bus bound for Glover. Once there, they were treated to a sneak preview of the place they’ll be spending a good deal of their next two years.

“Kids are real nervous to go to middle school. They’ve been nurtured here,” said Holmes’ librarian Janet Ray. “We hope this helps ease their fears and gives them a good start.”

With Smooth Start, students have a chance to get used to their new school and ask questions without hundreds of other kids around. They also get new school supplies.

After handing out a black nylon binder with Velcro closure, a spiral notebook, loose-leaf paper and a pencil to each child, Ray and Holmes principal Denise Sandbo held a sort of pre-departure pep rally.

They talked about the opportunity for starting over and making a good first impression.

“They don’t know you - you’re starting absolutely fresh,” Ray said of the Glover staff. “They don’t know if you were in detention every day, or if you got all A’s.”

The kids also completed a short survey, which will attempt to gauge the effectiveness of Smooth Start. Five yes-or-no questions probed their feelings about staring Glover, if they’d heard good or bad things about the school and if they have siblings there.

A quick glance through the results revealed that about two-thirds of the kids were nervous about starting Glover.

“Through word of mouth kids have really come to count on this program,” said Sandbo. “At the end of the year, they were asking, `Do we get to do Smooth Start?”’ Holmes has been running Smooth Start for five years, but thanks to the federal 21st Century grant, the program was expanded this year to include Audubon.

The grant provides $2.2 million over three years for 15 schools in Spokane School District 81, specifically targeting fifth through eighth graders in low-income areas.

“This is a critical age,” Sandbo said, noting that the grant will be used to provide activities that go beyond the school day - like after-school programs, homework centers and summer school. “It will give students alternatives - good choices to getting in trouble or doing drugs.”

At Glover, staff members talked about having the right attitude for starting the school year, and not being afraid to ask questions.

Then they passed out a copy of the school map and the one piece of paper that likely has more influence over the student’s year than any other: the almighty class schedule.

Each was received with eager hands and big eyes. Soon, Glover’s cafeteria hummed with happy discoveries and small disappointments.

“Oh man, we don’t have any classes together,” one boy said glumly after comparing schedules with his friend.

Chad Florian, 13, plotted his classes on the map with the precision of a cartographer.

“Cool,” he said, jumping up excitedly. “This is gonna be easy.”

One table over, friends Sandy Munck and Angie Kent found out they have third period social studies together.

“Yeah, that’ll be cool,” Munck said, and the girls set off like treasure hunters to find their classrooms.

Meanwhile, counseling intern Brooks Clergy gave lessons in the fine art of opening a locker.

“First you clear it,” he said, spinning the dial on the narrow, blue metal door. “Then you go right to 10, left to 44, then right to 32 and give it a quick turn to the right.”

Abbey Aune, 12, gave it a whirl and the door popped open on her second try. She walked away with a satisfied smile.

The effects of Smooth Start’s hands-on preparation are not lost on staff members.

“To assess the value of this, I don’t know if there are things you can put down on paper,” said Phillip Newsum, Glover’s principal for the past five years. “I just know the look in their faces. The lack of anxiety when they show up here - that’s really evident.”

After touring the school, locating their classes and mastering the lockers, students enjoyed their first lunch in Glover’s cafeteria. They had high praise for the hamburgers, potato salad, ice cream bars - and for Smooth Start.

“It’s a good program because you get a better look at the school,” said Shaun Greer, 12. “So now I won’t walk in the front door and being like, `OK…now?”’ Johnny Robinson, 13, thinks the first day of school will be more fun than scary.

“Now I know where to go,” he said.

The exit survey showed only a fifth of the students still felt nervous about starting Glover. But the effects of Smooth Start were more clearly written on the faces of students like Nadiya Yurkin.

After walking up and down a hall, she finally located Room 130 where she’ll have science. Yurkin, who’s almost 12, said she feels pretty good about starting Glover now.

“My sister goes here, and said it’s kind of easy,” she said with a confident smile. “But she didn’t have a chance to come before school started.”

Clutching her new binder, Yurkin turned to join the rest of her peers for lunch. She knew exactly where she was going.