Sixth Grade Orientation

In early September, our sixth grade advising team and our sixth grade students spent four days at Thompson Island, Outward Bound. The fall orientation trip is a vital part of the Sage experience. The trip lays the foundation for Middle School, building independence and fostering relationships between faculty and students. The trip is transformative for our students who improve their abilities to engage in challenge by choice, a life skill critical to success in our rigorous academic program.

The September orientation for our Middle School students is just the beginning of our study with respect to the four pillars of Outward Bound: service to others, craftsmanship, teamwork, and self-reliance. These principles represent the core of our sixth grade advisory, will continue on into their other grade six academic class work, and extend into seventh and eighth grades. We have found that running the trip at the start of sixth grade has made a dramatic difference in the ease with which our sixth graders adapt to Middle School and the success they have throughout the rest of the year. Instead of it taking a few months for our kids to gear up as it used to before the fall trip, our students come back generally energized, confident, and more mature, allowing us to make more efficient use of instructional time from the very start of the year.

Here is what some of our faculty and students said about the trip:

• we had a student overcome a serious fear of heights
• we had students learning how to throw a frisbee for the first time
• we had students overcome a fear of touching marine life (e.g., hermit crabs)
• we had students eat organic vegetables right out of the ground
• we had students leaping for joy at views of the sea and sunsets
• we had students helping other students without being asked and when they thought no one was looking
• we had proud teachers smiling from ear to ear at the marvelous young men and women that are their students
• we had students who learned leadership skills, and that sometimes you need to lead by following
• students cheered on their classmates
• students felt like they shed their old skin and wore a new one
• teachers know their students so well now
• Outward Bound councilors said our students were the most supportive of each other they had observed in a group (including high school and college students!)