RHS students belonging to the Green Mountain Teen Institute (GMTI) are meeting with RMS 8th graders during the week of April 6. This is another step in the process of the 8th grade transition to high school. 

GMTI high school students applied to be mentors in the winter. They faced a rigorous process that required recommendations from two teachers and a counselor, as well a night training on how to work with their younger peers.

This is part of the Rutland School Board’s goal to increase student leadership opportunities. This program developed over the past three years.  This year high school students have even greater ownership in the process and direction of the program.  RHS student Kayla McFarlane has been particularly instrumental in organizing the plan. It is a problem-solving approach in which administrators at both schools want students to lead, as the transition between middle school and high school is so important to student success.

April’s program involves three visits by RHS students to RMS Teacher Advisories. At the end of the month, RMS students will travel to RHS to meet their GMTI peers again, getting a broader exposure to the school and experiencing the high school classroom. GMTI mentors will meet 8th grade students at a June dance, then again formally during Freshmen Orientation. Through the first year these new freshmen will check in periodically with their upperclassmen mentors to get guidance on how to best take advantage of what RHS has to offer.

RMS wants to thank RHS staff Meaghan Marsh, Steve Sampson, and Tyler Wiedeman for their guidance in this process.