A Look into the Freshmen Skills Lab Period
Nina Flusberg
Transitioning from middle school to high school is often a stress-inducing and challenging time for students. The reasons for this include social changes, an increased workload, a shift in academic rigor, and many structural changes to the students’ daily schedule. More than just a shift to another grade, high school represents an adjustment to an entirely different environment.
To ease the change into high school, the AJA administration implemented a transitional program for freshmen, called Skills Lab, that focuses on training students in skills necessary to succeed in high school. These skills range from social-emotional advice to mental health information to self-care instruction. For example, they had a class focused on self-calming strategies which they practiced through meditation, coloring, and group discussions. According to Ms. Amber Gardner, High School Learning Specialist and English teacher, “This need was heightened, along with the need for executive functioning focus in the upper grades, with the pandemic.” The pandemic generated additional anxiety and stress for all students, especially for Freshmen, as it forced them to be more self-sufficient in a remote world.
“The transition from middle school to high school was interesting because we were on Zoom,” freshmen Yulie Maimon explained. “We had to get used to learning with teachers before meeting them.” The Skills Lab period gives students the opportunity to build relationships with their teachers who give them instruction to take ownership of their learning.
Assigned advisory groups that meet once a week already provide academic help, so the study skills period aims to guide students in their work habits, self-awareness, and their organization and planning. While the rest of the High School students spend their Skills Lab period developing these skills on a different program called EXQ, the freshmen follow a separate curriculum.
Ms. Gardner described the class period as “a curriculum of topics that we felt are necessary for students to learn and have as they move into high school.” While the teachers identified specific skills that are critical for new incoming freshmen to learn, they also asked for input from students about topics they were interested in covering throughout the year. Interestingly enough, Ms. Gardner explained, “Many of the topics freshmen listed were already set to be covered.”
In the first quarter of the year, the freshmen focused on skills needed for the beginning of their transition into high school. “We have talked about taking ownership of their learning, various study skills, developing relationships with teachers to feel comfortable using teachers as resources, note-taking skills, and critical and strategic thinking,” Ms. Gardner said. In her opinion, these skills are essential to master if a student strives to succeed in high school.
This year, as the school faced many schedule changes, so have the regular concepts and information shared with the freshmen. Teachers provided additional guidance, such as managing time with asynchronous classes and remote Fridays. Taking ownership of learning has been essential for students to manage and maintain, especially with the year starting off remotely.
Remote classes provide a unique opportunity for the Skills Lab class period. Ms. Gardner said that the period “allows us to take advantage of … Zoom for guest speakers to come and speak to a group of students at a time about a given topic, so we can take advantage of experts outside of the building as well.” Providing a specific time period to discuss these topics allowed more time, focus, and care towards them, too.
With the help of the Skills Lab period, AJA hopes freshmen will be able to experience a smoother transition into high school, despite any added challenges of starting their high school years online. Administrators and teachers anticipate that recognizing and approaching concerns and difficulties that students face as they move through high school will help them identify solutions and ultimately produce a stronger group of students.
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