Growing Girls and Gardens Program
The girls in the Middle Grades Partnership Growing Girls and Gardens Program at Garrison Middle School were busy last winter making and selling herb-based products at a local farmers' market.
Growing seedlings, they thought of possibilities for their garden. They want to leave behind a memento of their time with MGP/GGG and are planning and designing a park bench for the garden.
On a recent club day, the girls used herbs to give themselves facials. These girls have truly learned to respect and enjoy their garden.
WFSK Radio
After WLOY, the Loyola College radio station, donated $3,091 to the Middle Grades Partnership, the Calvert-Francis Scott Key Elementary-Middle School site contacted them about a possible partnership.
Last summer, ninth graders enjoyed a residency at the station. Last fall things were set in motion with the assistance of WLOY and The Baltimore Community Radio Coalition so that WFSK could be operational by this fall.
This summer ninth graders will again enjoy a residency, and the eighth graders will concentrate their National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship class endeavors on putting together a plan and materials to sell space to support MGP/NFTE program efforts.
Listen to WFSK Radio:
Corey Basmajian, Site Director, Sporting News
Chele, Happy Birthday to You
Imani, Headlines
Jennifer, Rock History
Marissa, Today in History
Sergio, NFL Today
Cydni, Juvie Law in Maryland
Timothy, National News
Girls' Mentoring Program
A wildly successful highlight of the Middle Grades Partnership program at Garrison Forest School is the pairing of high school student mentors with MGP girls from City Springs School and Collington Square School.
Each Garrison Forest School student mentor is assigned about eight MGP girls and meets with them as a group each day of the summer program for discussion, activities, and information sharing.
Mentor groups have lunch together and mentors also help teachers in the classrooms. Both groups of students – mentors and MGP girls – highly value the relationship.
MGP students gain a caring, motivating role model and approachable helper; student mentors gain leadership, teaching, and group skills. Strong bonds are forged and are renewed at Saturday activities throughout the year.
The mentor program is one way in which Garrison Forest School gains as much as it gives through MGP.
In the words of one mentor: “Each and every girl’s unique story taught me something about her as well as something about myself. MGP has changed my life forever, and I am so fortunate for the experience that it has given me.”
Board Game Designing
The students in the Friends School/ConneXions Community Leadership Academy MGP program were asked to imagine having a great idea for a new board game that families would love to play.
They had to believe that this new game would be better than beloved games like Candy Land, Clue, Life, Apples to Apples, or Sorry.
They created a board game that had all the important components of the well-known board games. The students explored the board game by reading the directions and playing each game.
They analyzed the components of the board games, evaluated the games and identified the good, bad and confusing. Finally, students created their own board game and followed up by writing a letter to a fictitious board game company.