Video:

Transcription:

Memorial MS Student: Hi, my name is Jeremiah from Memorial Middle School, and you're watching Mondays with Maria.

Announcer: Presented by ADDITION Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Mondays with Maria Show. We are on the road today at Memorial Middle School. And wasn't that an amazing drumline with me today? Our principal, Mr. Eddie Foster, and their great, amazing teacher of the year, Mr. Jean-Gilles, and we have some incredible students that we'll hear from in just a little bit. We have seen tremendous improvements here at Memorial Middle School, and that is no small feat. So, Mr. Foster, would you share with us what it is that has happened to make this such an incredible place?

Mr. Eddie Foster, Memorial MS Principal: Yes. In my four years, I've seen the school change substantially. Through my great students, we've managed to collect all their diverse backgrounds, bring them together as one unit, and they respond and learn from each other in the classroom. You see it as they work in small groups. Also, when we had last year going through BSI with the State of Florida, that partnership with the state voted it a benefit for our school, our students, and how they were, they had an opportunity to showcase their skillset. And not only just in academics, but also in our clubs, and also in our arts, band, and also in our chorus. And so we are on the track to become a B for the first time in school history.

Dr. Vazquez: That's amazing. So, Mr. Foster mentioned the incredible programs that are available here for the students, and one of them is the great music program that you lead, which includes the drum line that we just saw. And you've been able to grow that program. Would you tell us about that?

Mr. Jean-Gilles, Band Teacher and Teacher of the Year: Well, first of all, my students are extremely special. The drum line is actually just one slice of the cake. So here at Memorial, we offer band and orchestra. I'm both the band and orchestra director. So, I teach beginning band, intermediate band, and advanced band. We have a jazz band, we have a percussion ensemble, and we have Drumline one and two. Wow. The Drumline has actually grown. We started with around 15 kids; we now have a class of almost 60. The kids make it special, you know, they work hard, they're engaged, they come every day, they listen. And we've created this community of just love, support, and growth. And so that's what it is about, Memorial.

Dr. Vazquez: This year, we have been visiting middle schools and hearing from our students what makes middle school special to them. And so Jeremiah, you are an eighth grader. Would you tell us what makes Memorial such a special place?

Jeremiah, Memorial MS Student: Well, from sixth grade, I feel like the behavior has improved a lot. And the opportunities you have to be great. And some of the programs we have are very good. And under the conduct of Mr. Jean-Gilles, I feel like the band is very, very inspirational and very, like, opportunities. You have to be great, right? And I feel like band is really a privilege to be in it. Because if you don't put in the work, there's not going to be any order or whatever that stuff, something like that.

Dr. Vazquez: You're very talented, you're a little shy, but you've also made all-county all. I hope you continue to be that focused and that determined because there's a lot of there's very bright future ahead for you. Zyannah, you are also in eighth grade. Would you tell us what it is that you love about the school?

Zyannah, Memorial MS Student: What I love about Memorial is just like Principal Foster said, lots of diversity. A lot of people from different backgrounds are doing different things. They come from different places. They just bring a lot of that to the school. There's a lot of culture, a lot of diversity. Also, what Jeremiah said from when I came here last year, there has been better behavior this year than last year, with the phones, like a lot of people, like they aren't on their phones all the time in class.

Dr. Vazquez: And all of that makes for a great learning environment so that you can be successful. Angel, you're also an eighth grader, right? And so, tell us about why Memorial is a positive place.

Angel, Memorial MS Student: I would say Memorial is a positive place, mostly because of the staff, teachers, and administration, influencing the students to keep positive mindsets and continue with whatever opportunities they're pursuing at that time. And I would just say it's all thanks to Principal Foster, leading the school under the direction of Mr. Jean-Gilles. Also, he's helped us keep going whenever we didn't really want to.

Dr. Vazquez: That's great to hear that there's such a supportive and caring staff at, at the school. Tytianna, you're also an eighth grader, you know, sometimes there are perceptions that middle school is a scary place. But you've been here and you know, it, it's not, it's a special place. So what would you say to an incoming sixth grader?

Tytianna, Memorial MS Student: What I would say to an incoming sixth grader is that they're going to have a lot of fun here. The school is very safe, and there are so many opportunities like music, art, chorus, and just a lot of things that they can do to help their career and what they want to like do. And like this school is very safe. It's kind of fun to go here.

Dr. Vazquez: That's great to hear. I'm glad that it's fun. It's okay. We want school to be fun too. So let's turn our attention a little bit to chronic absenteeism, right? It's a national issue, a crisis actually. But you have managed to buck that trend. You are seeing a decline in the number of children who are choosing not to attend school. So, would you tell our viewers and us what is it that has led to this great success?

Mr. Eddie Foster: Well, we saw last year an 8.8% decline in students absent for more than 30 days. That's amazing. So when we find the core of the problem, we support them with wraparound services and bring them into the building. And also, as my students stated, the school is fun. We have opportunities for pep rallies, we do school dances, field trips, and we have student of the month incentives for being behavior and for students making proficiency. We have what we call a time in the cafeteria. We put our divide up, and we have game time for students who actually make proficiency based on PM two. So we make academics something that's fun and expected in terms of their performance, and also we support them in all their endeavors. And, Mr. Jean-Gilles has done an awesome job with his support of our school, band, and performing at SeaWorld, being requested by other schools.

Mr. Eddie Foster: We are going to Magnolia pretty soon to pick up the instruments they are giving us this year. And the trade-off was going to play for our students at Magnolia. Oh, that's great. So, I'm setting up a field trip with Mr. Jean-Gilles to take our drumline and band students to perform for our students over there who would appreciate that experience. Yeah, my thing here is what you see representation of for me is my diamonds, because I've put them under pressure of four years, and in the beginning it was not as pleasant, but they can see the ones who've been here three years with me, the benefit of the focus and the loving pressure I put on them to make them great. And they're now diamonds, and they shine every day here for us.

Dr. Vazquez: They are definitely shining. So continue the hard work. I wish you the best of luck as you're going to transition into high school. Mr. Jean-Gilles and Mr. Foster, thank you so much for being here. Don't forget to follow and subscribe. There'll be more of this conversation on our podcast. Go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. 

Memorial MS Band Student: But wait, there's more!

Lauren Lorusso, Village Park ES Teacher: Today was the Village Park Amazing Shake competition. It's our fourth annual competition.

Giovanni, Village Park ES Student: Amazing Shake is learning conversation skills, learning how to speak properly in front of people, interviews, you know, just learning life skills.

Lauren Lorusso: We talk about the themes of Amazing Shake, which would be poise, confidence, humility, humor, all of those things we incorporate into our weekly lessons.

Hunter, Village Park ES Student: They're teaching us this, and then we get to compete in it, which makes it even more fun to learn.

Lauren Lorusso: Today was all about narrowing down our top 32 students to our top five. So, we start with working the room, which is round one. And it's basically more of a conversational round where they are networking, they're having conversations with adults. And then the second round that we do is called the gauntlet, which is more station-based, where we give them situations and scenarios where they're testing all of their amazing shake skills that they've learned and applying them to different scenarios. So we did the fishbowl round this year. The fishbowl round is where they're pulling a question out of a bowl, and it's on the spot. They have to think very quickly.

Olivia, Village Park ES Student: But I didn't give up. I kept going, and that helped me.

Lauren Lorusso: And then we go from there to the lunch round, observing their manners, their behaviors, and whether they are helping others. And then the last round is the final impression round, in which they all get the same question. 

Giovanni, Village Park ES Student: People like people with confidence. When you have confidence, and you act like the boss, the king, you are the boss. You are the king. What you think you are, that's what you are.

Hunter, Village Park ES Student: I'm going to have a job interview eventually in my life. Maybe when I'm 16. I don't know. Maybe when I'm in college, when I'm 27, nobody knows. But if I know how to do interview questions, awesome. If I know how to shake hands, that's like the most important thing you need to know to get on with your life.

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic, listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer, Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.