TeWinkle takes scare out of middle school

Jessica Garrison

COSTA MESA -- The scariest part of starting TeWinkle Middle School

for many incoming sixth-graders wasn’t the giant eighth-graders, the

school’s formidable reputation for flaming bathrooms and graffiti or even

the thought of school dances.

It was the prospect of having six different classes instead of one,

more comfortable classroom as they did in elementary school.

“I thought it would be really hard to go to all the different

classes,” said sixth-grader Dena Mora.

So imagine Dena’s, and her mother’s, delight when they arrived at

TeWinkle and learned that, over the summer, Principal Sharon Fry had

started a “sixth-grade academy.”

The program, which Fry dreamed up herself, tries to offer

sixth-graders the best of both the elementary school and the middle

school worlds. It may be the first of its kind in Orange County.

Instead of six teachers, the 150 sixth-graders at TeWinkle have two --

one for math and science, and one for arts and literature.

As they did in elementary school, they will be subjects of

parent-teacher conferences, and will be able to get to know their

teachers and each other very well. But they also can take advantage of

middle-school extras such as music, foreign language and advanced math

classes. The students will never have to go to more than two classrooms

in a day.

And, unique to the academy, each sixth-grade class is taught by two

teachers who work with each other in teams -- which allows classes to

explore curriculum in-depth.

Another advantage of the program, said Fry, is that it inspires

teachers to be creative about their assignments and get excited about

teaching.

In a few months, for example, science teacher Rebecca Ellis will

present a unit on archeology.

She will talk about precise measurements, the scientific method and

how objects become preserved in layers of dirt. The English teacher she

works with will offer lessons on the history of archeology, about

pharaohs and the Sphinx and the role of archeology in literature.

Teachers hope that, through this interdisciplinary approach, students

will -- in keeping with education’s newest buzzword -- be able to

integrate scientific and literary views of archeology.

Many students, however, are just happy not to be wandering the halls,

lost, embarrassed and weighed down by a backpack full of books.

“I’m not scared anymore,” said student Kristina Sharp.

Her classmate, Sarah Muradian, agreed. ‘It’s a lot easier than having

to go to lots of different classes.”