DECATUR -- A recent classroom conversation among eighth grade students in this small town ignited an effort to change how the middle school students treat each other and how they perceive themselves.
The students demonstrated that effort, branded "Revolution 2021," during a schoolwide assembly in the gymnasium April 12. The event featured a video students made with students and teachers emphasizing positive relationships and attitudes and a change in the school's culture.
Messages flashed on the screen: "What if we all worked together? What if we focused on the positive? It's time for a change."
Students split into groups after the video ended and went outside to engage in team-building activities such as navigating a maze blindfolded with the help of a partner.
Decatur is the smallest school district in Northwest Arkansas with about 600 students. Its middle school has about 150 students in grades five through eight.
Joli Sotallaro, an eighth-grade English and social studies teacher, was sitting with four students about a month ago when they started talking about how their school culture compares to that of larger schools. After listening to the students talk for a bit, Sotallaro jumped in.
"And we talked, the five of us, for 10 to 15 minutes before it really became evident that we needed to have a conversation as a class," Sotallaro said.
Another class joined in the conversation. Forty-five students went outside, sat in a circle and talked about how they treat each other and how they'd like to improve in that area. One student suggested they start right then by going around the circle and saying nice things about each other, Sotallaro said.
"Then after that, they're like, hey, if we step off this blacktop and we walk back into the school and nothing changes, then what have we really done. It has to go further than this," she said.
Bronwyn Berry, an eighth-grader, missed that gathering, but she embraced the Revolution 2021 concept -- named for the year the eighth-graders will graduate -- as soon as she heard about it.
"This is something I'm passionate about," said Bronwyn, 14, a lifelong Decatur resident. "We're lucky because we have the potential to be a great community. We're not taking advantage of that."
Bronwyn said they want to see the culture change spread to the high school and elementary school.
"We can't just let this die here. They need to remember everyone here has so much potential," she said.
Alexis Patterson, another eighth-grader, said there's been a tendency for Decatur students to feel bad about themselves, especially when it comes to athletics.
"We'd go to a basketball game or a football game and (opponents) would be like, 'Oh, those are just the kids from Decatur. We can win.' They had no confidence in us. So it made us not have any confidence in us," said Alexis, 13.
Victor Gonzalez, 15, who plays football and runs track for Decatur, said it feels great when school spirit is high. Even when the teams struggle, he sees the positives of playing for a small school.
"Since there aren't as many people, someone who's not so good at sports can come and play at least a few minutes," Gonzalez said.
In the video shown at Wednesday's assembly, teacher and coach Jeff Melton highlighted Gonzalez for his willingness to help people, especially those who are learning English.
Melton said he's proud of what the students are doing.
"It's extremely inspirational," he said. "It's really cool to see them take the initiative, driving each other to be better. That's the most important part of this, it's all student-led."
Enrollment
Here's how many students were enrolled in Decatur Middle School on Oct. 1, by grade:
• Fifth: 43
• Sixth: 32
• Seventh: 38
• Eighth: 41
• Total: 154
Source: Arkansas Department of Education
General News on 04/19/2017