Creating an environment of warmth, support, and belonging in a modern high school is a difficult task. Mission statements, district goals, and course outcomes may call for actions that build a positive school environment, but many procedures actually run contrary to these ideals.
Among the more damaging of these practices can be the traditional back-to-school assembly, where the principal and assorted deans or assistant principals greet the students with lengthy readings from the student handbook. The litany of consequences, violations, and punishments herald an abrupt and harsh end to the fun, sun, and freedom that characterized the students' lives just the day before.
At Colfax High School, located 50 miles east of Sacramento, students receive a different welcome, one that is designed to help students and staff feel a sense of belonging to their school.
The First Assembly
When the bell rings at 7:50 a.m. on the first day of school, the teeming student population funnels into the claustrophobic, 30-year-old gym. New students wander around, bumping into strangers as they seek a safe haven with students in their classes. Freshmen are unusually restrained. Sophomores and juniors are animated, chatty, and confident. The seniors strut in with their new sense of power.
The teachers wander around, greeting new students, chatting with their colleagues, and hugging their student friends they haven't seen since June. Visitors, even strangers, get a real feel that people at this school still care.
After several minutes, another bell rings, and students shift restlessly on the hard wooden benches. The student body president approaches the microphone and welcomes the freshman class and all other new students. A somewhat cynical roar of approval spontaneously erupts from the other classes. The freshmen squirm.
The student leader next introduces a teacher who welcomes the students, politely reminds them of expected behavior, and moves to an introduction of the first of the morning's guest speakers. The theme of this year's program is the “Colfax High School Family,” and three graduates and the wife of an ex-teacher have returned to share how Colfax High School was a family to them.
Returning Guests
Diane Holm graduated in the early 1980s. She was an above-average student. Today she divides her time between her physical therapy practice and two children.
Diane talks about her experiences as an athletic statistician, yearbook editor, and teaching assistant; she says these experiences helped her to learn to work with others and realize that the world after high school required more than just good grades.
“Join, participate, and experience as much as you can in the short time that you'll spend in high school,” she exhorts the students. We who had been her teachers find her successes at Cal State Northridge and UCLA especially impressive and rewarding.
The next guest, class of 1972 graduate Mark Sutherland, scans the audience from his wheelchair. Mark owns a small bookstore in the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Meadow Vista. He became a quadriplegic in a diving accident that occurred just after he graduated from high school.
Mark is introduced as the inspiration behind another Mark, Mark Wellman, the paraplegic who gained national acclaim for his rock-climbing ascents of Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Sutherland and Wellman became roommates when they were both undergoing rehabilitation. Wellman's book is dedicated to Mark because he taught Wellman that paraplegia did not have to end his athletic lifestyle.
The audience is obviously moved by the strength of this fine man, someone who had once run and played in this same gym. The audience grows particularly quiet as the speaker wheels up to the mike. His remarks are brief, but the message is powerful: “Your life may not turn out the way you think. Take advantage of the opportunities presented to you. Keep your options open, and develop both your intellectual and physical capabilities.”
Jerry, wife of deceased Colfax teacher Dave Brown, is the next guest. It has been 15 years since she was last at Colfax High, but her message is clear: “Despite my short stay here, the people in this school touched my family in a way we will never forget.”
In the fall of 1977, Dave was one of several new teachers. He taught shop classes, coached track and football, and built a wrestling program. Dave was living the life he had dreamed about, and he was very popular with staff and students.
In the spring of 1978, Dave was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Staff members volunteered to teach his classes during their prep periods so the family could still receive an income. Today, 14 years after Dave's death, Jerry is back to say “thank you.”
Jerry ends her speech by introducing her two children, who are now 17 and 19. She encourages all of the students to embrace the family at the school so that they can “take away their own story for a lifetime.”
The final guest is an athletic man in his late 20s. In the 10 years since his graduation, Mike Pitz has become the most successful athlete who has ever graduated from Colfax. He received a college scholarship, played varsity football and baseball at the University of the Pacific, and went on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.
In a relaxed, articulate way, he talks about how thankful he is for his experiences in high school. At Colfax, he learned to set personal goals, work hard, and strive for excellence. These are all messages we are still trying to convey to our students.
Closing Words
The student body president returns to the podium, thanks our guests, and introduces the varsity football coach, who is also a history teacher. The coach's message is clear: “High school is training for life. Get involved, practice, experiment. If you fail, we'll pick you up, dust you off, and give you another chance.” He ends his talk with a solemn warning: “We've buried 19 students in the 19 years that I've been here—2 last year. Do not be stupid. Don't drink and drive.”
After welcoming words from the principal, vice-principal, and peer counselor advisor, the program closes with the full contingent of cheer-leaders, song leaders, and mascots leading a cheer. It is a total high school experience.
A School Family
As I file out of the gym, I reflect upon the characteristics of the program that have created the atmosphere of “family.” I am especially struck by how the program avoids the negative listing of new rules, punishments, and restrictions. The message is one of welcome, support, caring, and student empowerment.
It is important to vary the tempo of the program from adult speaker to student speaker and to demonstrate how students have power and influence in the operation of the school. Popular and articulate teachers frequently have the trust of the students, and they should be given preference over lesser-known administrators. Finally, the message must be inclusive, upbeat, and there should be no attempt to review new rules and regulations. Teachers can discuss these changes later at individual class meetings.
Hundreds of schools across the country provide students with skills and confidence to thrive as adults, but most neglect to bring these students back to share their stories. In an era when more and more students remain unattached to their families, churches, or communities, a back-to-school assembly, emphasizing the unique bonds established in school, is a wonderful way to begin the year.
