Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Harding Middle School will give incoming students a glimpse of upperclassman life when it hosts Making Memories in the Middle on Friday.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with activities to run from 6-8 p.m. and fourth-graders and families within Steubenville City Schools are invited as well as any student living outside the district who may be interested in enrolling. Shay Greiner, school social worker, said the event is now in its 10th year and those planning to attend can enjoy an evening of fun while touring the building and exploring programs.
"We provide new activities each year," said Greiner. "This year, we have a few new rooms and activities to offer."
Among them are a rollercoaster display, Fine Arts tables and information, a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) station with information on #StallionWay, a pie-in-the-face game with student-athletes, a School Bases Health Clinic table, a fourth-grade puzzle mural, Bingo, a photo booth/wall, a Stallion quilt activity, HMHS Helps Me Grow, a March Madness activity, a school nurse educational table, a locker escape room, an eighth-grade question-and-answer session and giveaways such as HMS gift bags and magnets.
"This event was started to help alleviate some of the early anxieties our fourth-grade students have making the jump to a new building," Greiner said. "It is only natural after spending six or seven years in one building that there be some anxiety when jumping to a new one. With this experience, students gain the opportunity to explore the building and some of our programs, meet staff they will see or have as teachers in the coming year and mingle with older students. In addition, this event provides a platform for our elementary students to mingle with each other."
Harding accepts fourth-grade students from Pugliese West Elementary, East Garfield Elementary, Wells Academy and McKinley STEM Academy and the event helps pupils who have not had many opportunities to get to know each other, particularly since they attend separate schools until fifth-grade.
About 220 fourth-graders and their families have been invited to the upcoming festivities.
Greiner said school staff, students and leaders are involved in Making Memories in the Middle and help keep it going strong.
"It takes a team effort to organize this event. Making Memories in the Middle would not be a success without the staff who volunteer their time and Solutions teams and even our own students help plan and decorate for the occasion."