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04/12/2016 12:00 AMSaying hello to someone new can be a challenge for middle schoolers, but what if learning how became a part of your school day? That is just one of many inclusive activities students at Dr. Robert H. Brown Middle School practice regularly through the Mix It Up program, designed to teach students to respect and understand one another. With the program now a vital part of the school community, Brown has been declared a Mix It Up Model School for its community efforts in the 2015-2016 school year.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance program began the Mix It Up practice in 2002 with annual lunch days through which students were asked to sit with a new person at lunch with the hope of promoting inclusiveness among students. The program has since expanded to include more activities and Brown Middle School is one of 91 schools being honored as exemplary models of the program’s goals.
“We are delighted to recognize Dr. Robert H. Brown Middle School,” said Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen Costello. “Mix It Up Model Schools have found innovative ways to create school environments where respect and inclusiveness are core values. They all serve as great examples of how a school—any school—can cultivate these values among their students, faculty, and staff.”
Brown has hosted regular hosted Mix It Up lunch events according to School Counselor Rachel Kilian. Kilian, along with fellow school counselor Eliza Hayes, has worked to organize many Mix It Up community building efforts within Brown.
“Middle school is all about who is friends with whom and who is sitting with whom,” she said. “When I first started here, on Mix It Up day we got the groans and the eye rolls, but doing it more than once a year sets the standard that it is just a part of the Brown culture. It really makes a difference in terms of kids not being scared to step outside of their comfort level and I think that is the biggest take away.”
While the Mix It Up lunch events have been a success, staff and students have gone above and beyond to continue to build an inclusive community.
“Kids participate once a month in our advisory program called SAIL (Success, Achievement, Independence, Leadership) and a lot of what is talked about in SAIL goes right along with the messages of teaching tolerance and the Mix It Up program,” she said. “We talk a lot about community and ways to build the community within Brown as well as outside Brown.”
The program sets an important example for 5th and 6th grade students who face a changing social dynamic as they move into middle and high school, according to Kilian.
“It alleviated some of the inhibition that is typical of 5th and 6th graders and empowered them to really reach out,” she said. “It can be awkward for them at this age to step out of their comfort zone and these programs really do empower our students.”
Now a model school for the Mix it up program, Assistant Superintendent Gail Dahling-Hench said the honor reflects highly on Brown and the entire district.
“Madison Public Schools develop a strong sense of social inclusion through the development of many school-based programs such as the recognition for the work happening in Brown School,” she said. “We continue to value the importance of balancing the social/emotional development of our students with the academic work of schools.”
Kilian said the recognition is great for the staff and students, but it is all about the big picture.
“It is really about setting a comfortable, safe, inclusive environment for every single student here at Brown,” she said.
To learn more about Mix It Up, visit www.tolerance.org/mix-it-up.