MRH Middle Holds Back-to-School Barbecue

This week, Anthony Robinson will begin seventh grade at . He and his mother, Letishia, attended a back-to-school barbecue Monday night in the school's gym.

Letishia Robinson said she came to the event to tour the building.

"I've never been in the middle school before," Robinson said. Her other son, Andrew, will be in second grade and her daughter, Andrea, will be in preschool.

Staff at the middle school will begin the school year that starts Wednesday with a greater sense of trust than last year, Principal Dr. Robert Dillon said. That's because they've gone through this process before: Dillon is entering his second year at the building.

"We just have a very, very passionate staff," Dillon said. Last year's barbecue drew 250 people, Dillon said, and he hoped the event would again fill up this year.

Among the changes Dillon said are happening at the school: The to Sherwood Forest Camp in southern Missouri for seventh graders; the continuation of the adventure club; the requirement that all middle school students participate daily in physical education; and greater integration . 

Kadi Compere is the school's home visit site coordinator. As part of the home visit program, middle school faculty take turns visiting the homes of all seventh graders, all newly enrolled students and select eighth graders.

The visiting educators then fill out a form that describes how students perceive their learning style; how parents think their child learns best; and which subjects the student finds difficult. That information is then shared with the group of educators who will be working with the student.

"It's been very helpful," Compere said. Of the 84 students on the list, she said, only six did not get a visit.

Changes also will happen in the way MRH Youth Sports works with the middle school, said Tonya Powell, the group's president. MRH Youth Sports hopes to provide a soccer program that would allow middle school athletes to play against schools such and . That would get them ready for the varsity squad, she said.

Provided enough athletes sign up, the girls volleyball program also will be expanded with the addition of a sixth grade team. The sixth grade cross-country program, which began last year, will continue this year.

Pat Rasmussen, one of the first MRH Youth Sports board members, said that as part of its soccer plans, the school is looking into the possibility of joining the Middle School Instructional Athletic League. The league has between 30 and 35 member schools, he said.