Sequoyah’s new high school was started as an extension of the Sequoyah program, but so far the high school and K–8 campuses seem connected only by name. Students from Sequoyah’s high school have had deep encounters with their counterparts at the K–8 only four times, by my count.
The first time most high school students met with students from the K–8 was during the Children’s Book Project, in which students read books they wrote and illustrated to students in the Backyard class. As a student in this elective, I thoroughly enjoyed reading to my new book buddy Nico Moon Gurewitz. She seemed to enjoy listening to my story, as she asked me to read her more books from the library. Nico Moon was still working on her own reading skills, but she was quite excited to pick out books and read them with me. I felt connected and happy with this experience. The children enjoyed our stories and pictures, and we enjoyed connecting and reading aloud the books we spent so much time on. The hard work had definitely paid off! We were even invited back to the K–8 campus for the Backyard’s Alphabet Hot Lunch. Sadly, schedules and transportation challenges meant that we could not accept the invitation. Considering we get this kind of response from the K–8 campus, why do we not meet with them more often, logistics notwithstanding?
The second time high schoolers met with students from the K–8 school was when their volleyball team needed preparation for an upcoming game, so they scrimmaged the high school’s team. Two ninth-grade volleyball players, Sofia Araujo and Sophia Barrera, said they would do it again. Araujo said, “it was cool to see the level they were at, and although it was an actual game against them, we had so much fun joking around and playing with them. The K–8 team was so good!” She argued that as parts of the same community, the high school and K–8 “really need to build and work on our community.”
Barrera would like to see a joint camping trip. “It would be so fun, and they would show us up, since they’ve probably been at Sequoyah longer.” Barrera also suggested a joint flag football game, or other “cliché brother-sister kind of activities.”
Sequoyah is one big family, and we should act like one. Should we not make more efforts to connect? We should kickstart fun intercampus activities that would bring us closer as a school.
