Kelli Thornhill

“The quality of the relationship between teachers and students is the single most important aspect of middle level education.” - Van Hoose (1991, 7) Student's with a strong sense of community, an adult advocate, and a safe environment to learn in are more likely to succeed. Teaming and advisory programs are incredibly important in middle level education. If implemented correctly, there is a greater chance for personal and academic success in the middle school environment. It is far too easy to slip through the cracks and become invisible in middle school, but with these two practices, students are able to create personal connections with their teachers, and teachers are able to build strong relationships with their students. What Makes a Strong Team? A strong team is one that... Has strong relationships and communication Has support systems available for students, teachers, and parents Is clearly student centered Has a strong organizational structure Has a focus on ...

Numbness; that is what 13 year old Laurel Daneau craves. When the memories come rushing back with a force as strong as the water that took her beloved mother and grandmother away, she finds solace in the moon. The high makes the rest of the world fade away, if only for a few moments, but when the numbness begins to spread, to take her completely, Laurel is faced with a difficult choice; who will she live for, the moon, or her family? Exhibiting classic signs of risky adolescent behavior, Laurel could be focusing on intuitive reasoning rather than analytic reasoning. Instead of focusing on the risks meth posed to her well being, Laurel instead focused on the benefits it would provide, even before she felt the high. Her first exposure to meth occurred in an interaction with her basketball team boyfriend, T-Boom, outside of a local gas station. Laurel made the risky decision to try meth not because she knew it would numb her pain, but because she wanted to impress T-Boom. Her intuiti...