Mixing it up at Woodland M.S.

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Oftentimes in middle school, children can stick to one group of friends and spend their lunch periods with the same group, either unwilling or too timid to branch out of their comfort zone.

At Woodland Middle School in East Meadow, the Social Emotional Learning Committee held a program to “mix it up” and, for one day, encourage students to meet new people, develop their social skills and work in teams.

On “Mix It Up Day,” sixth and seventh-grade students received different colored bracelets during their homeroom period, each corresponding to a different team. The theme of the day were different decades and students completed activities incorporating toys, characters and songs from the 1950s to the 2000s.           

Additionally, throughout the day, eighth-grade students practiced their team-building skills with exercises and gaming applications. Working collaboratively to accomplish a common goal, they participated in activities such as grand scale “Rock, Paper, Scissors” and Land Mine Travel, where teams had to direct their classmates across a field of “land mines” without stepping on a mine or bumping into another competitor. The students also participated in icebreaker speed-chatting and activities related to science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.  

—Brian Stieglitz