Middle School Leadership Opportunities

Research shows that developing Middle School student’s  leadership potential enhances their self-esteem and self-confidence. At St. Therese School, our goal is to help each student recognize his/her unique God-given talents and provide them with the tools to easily and transition to high school. A critical component of a successful transition is having ample opportunities to be a leader within his/her school.

Middle School students are challenged to be role models to our younger students each and every day. Two intentional opportunities we provide include being a “Buddy” to a younger student and leading their appointed Virtue House.

Buddies

A role model is a person who serves as an example by influencing others. At St. Therese school our students live out this expectation of being a positive influence by being a great “buddy.”

An older student (i.e., buddy) is assigned to a younger “buddy” - and they maintain this relationship throughout the school year. For our older students, it provides an opportunity to be a leader and mentor. Meanwhile, the younger students have a friendly face and older student to look up to!

Some of the ways that buddies interact include: attending and sitting together at mass each week, participating in various community outreach together (i.e., Christmas Box project), participating in classroom projects, and just giving a simple high five in the hallway!

Virtue House

Each month, our students study a specific virtue that St. Therese School values as foundational for living a Christ-like life. Additionally, these nine virtues provide the names for each “Virtue House.”

At the start of the school year, students and teachers are randomly placed into a Virtue house that is lead by an 8th-grader and teacher. Approximately 12 students from each grade, PreK-8th grade, are placed in a “house”. Older students rise to the challenge and serve as leaders among their Virtue House. These groups build their own smaller community, creating a safe and nurturing environment for students to get to know one another and make connections with students in other grades.

On feast days, when we gather as a school community, or on special occasions when we celebrate as a school - we do so in our Virtue Houses.

A 4th-grade student recently reflected on his Virtue House in this way…”My Virtue House is my school family.  Being a part of a Virtue House makes my school just a little smaller, like a family.”