South Whittier School District sixth-grade students visited Graves Middle School on Thursday, February 22, in preparation for entering middle school and to get a glimpse of what being a GMS Panther is all about.
All South Whittier elementary schools attended the Graves Middle School visit. The visit began with students taking a tour of the Graves’ campus classrooms. They then got to hear a presentation from GMS principal, Mr. Marquez. Mr Marquez introduced the GMS support staff, counselors, social worker, and instructional coach. He then shared about Graves sharing information regarding class sizes, after-school programs, interventions, enrichment opportunities, and electives. This included after-school tutoring, college classes, sports, the TLC program, and much more.
The presentation continued with students hearing about GMS student expectations. This consisted of having Panther pride, being ready to learn, having materials ready, and being kind and respectful. Lastly, students got to see how the middle school schedule works and how it differs from their current elementary school schedules.
After the presentation, students saw performances by GMS band and the cheer team, participated in contests, and won prizes. One contest was a basketball shoot-off. Each school brought tough competition but the winner went head to head with principal Marquez. Ultimately the student came out on top and won a brand new skateboard.
Following the contests students got to take part in an elective fair. The elective fair allowed students to explore electives, ask questions, and begin deciding what electives they would want to take in middle school. The fair included band, coding, journalism, AVID, college and career journey, health and sports, ASB, life 360, and more.