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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2009 > February > 14 > Entry
Middle school: Where dreams are made
If you ever really dreamed of doing something, chances are that dream was born somewhere around the middle school grades. It’s in those grades, stretching maybe into the range of fourth to ninth grade, when important things begin to happen. First, you begin to get a sense for the things you are good at. Also, you probably become deeply interested in something for the first time, whether it’s ballet or basketball, astronomy or art.
Middle school is when we take our first steps toward physical an emotional maturity. And many times, it’s when you come across somebody inspiring who opens up possibilities in your mind. Often, that person is a teacher.
As I spoke earlier this week with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney I thought about this.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the culmination of a long running dream for Kinney. It is the story of Greg Heffley, written and doodled in the voice and hand of a young boy on lined notebook-style paper, as he navigates the backstreets and alley ways of middle school.
In our interview Kinney described for me his favorite memory from school. It was of a fifth grade teacher who encouraged students to develop their senses of humor and pushed them to go for “quality laughs.” Kinney believes Mrs. Norton, the teacher, sparked his interest in humor.
By college, Kinney was writing a popular cartoon in the student paper and dreaming of a career working for a newspaper. There was just a little problem. After college, nobody would hire him. Editors thought his artwork was too amateurish. So he got a regular job working at on a Web site and tried to transform his ideas into a graphic novel.
Kinney began keeping two journals — a personal diary that was a mix of drawings and short entries and an idea pad where he wrote or sketched out ideas. In all, it was nine years he worked on his ideas and kept the dream alive. Well past the point where others would have given up and resigned themselves to a life of Internet back-shopping, things finally came together for Kinney.
He had his eureka moment. What if the novel were written from the perspective of a child? What if he copied the format of his personal diary — drawings and short entries — and wrote from the perspective of a middle school boy? Then the artwork would be just what you would expect from a boy and the story could make use of the many humor possibilities of the middle school setting.
So Kinney invented Greg Heffley. About that time a graphic novel called “Mom’s Cancer” by Brian Fies became a hit. It was noted for using a “cartoon” format to capture the real story of Fies’ mother and her battle with cancer.
It seems like every story of a dream come true has a moment of tremendous good fortune. For Kinney, it was running into the acquiring editor for the publishing company that had printed “Mom’s Cancer” at a convention where the editor was on the lookout for other innovative writers of graphic novels. He took one look at Diary of a Wimpy Kid and told Kinney it was perfect.
The lessons of Kinney’s experience? Pay attention middle schoolers.
When you’re young and you fall in love with doing something — like making people laugh — commit yourself to making it a permanent part of your life, no matter what happens. When you think you have your dream job figured out — like cartooning for a newspaper — stay flexible. It may turn out the perfect job is different than you expect.
And no matter what, keep working on your craft, polishing your skills, trying out new ideas and learning from everyone around you. A best-selling book may not be your destiny, but the rewards of doing something you love will pay off one way or another.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By Concerned Mom of 3
February 20, 2009 5:39 PM | Link to this
Middle school students are a breed of their own… Their bodies are going through drastic changes- and the kids are working hard at trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in the world. These kids are at a very sensitive stage in their lives! Teachers have to be equipped to deal with the wide range of hormones and emotions- no easy task, if you ask me. (But then again, I am talking from the Mom point of view.) The middle school aged kids hate to be treated like little kids, but they don’t have the wisdom/experience to act like the high school kids. I personally loved the 7-12 concept one of my kids experienced at Stivers. I hope my next child will be accepted to Stivers when the time comes.By max
February 19, 2009 6:07 PM | Link to this
It’s too bad Stanic doesn’t do it for next year, because there are over 200 7th graders at WW going back into those pk-8 bldgs.By LoveMiddleSchoolTeaching
February 19, 2009 3:36 PM | Link to this
And it is my understanding that the staff from the administration down at WW hit the challenges of working with the group of students that were put out of the PK-8 bldgs head on & with their best. Dayton needs a middle school setting and it is too bad that next year there won’t be one.By MS back in Dayton?
February 18, 2009 4:16 PM | Link to this
For better or worse, it appears that the middle school concept will be returning to Dayton Public Schools. Even though the district just announced it will be closing its last stand-alone middle school (Wilbur Wright), my guess is that either this spring or the following spring, Dayton will do away with the K-8 concept and move all of the 7th and 8th graders to 2 or 3 schools of their own. My reason: Dr. Stanic. He doesn’t like the idea and he has already shown that he is willing to move quickly to change what he sees as a weakness in the system (look how fast he’s moved to lose the fat downtown and the change back to the traditional schedule). This would be greeted with great cheers from the elementary teachers (and principals) who largely HATE having the older kids in the same buildings. It doesn’t solve any of the problems that caused the district to move away from middle schools a few years ago, but that’s a different issue. I hope the DDN does some investigating about the possibility of more upheaval in DPS.By Mary
February 18, 2009 1:05 PM | Link to this
Max, many of the “at risk” youth are also gifted. I forget what percentage of high school dropouts are actually high ability - but it seems around 25% might be an estimate from at least one study. Around 50% of gifted students are considered underachievers which also puts them at risk. One of the students who shot up Columbine had been identified gifted. I would not be surprised if the other student shooter was also high ability, but he had been doped up on antidepressants -which is sometimes the “adult” answer to “at risk” youth and underchallenged students. Ironically, there is also a link between young students on antidepressants and homicidal/suicidal behavior. So, ignoring the needs of “at-risk” students ends up putting other students “at risk”.By max
February 18, 2009 5:07 AM | Link to this
Mary - middle school is often where i believe you also lose your at-risk youth. There are programs for the elementary schools and programs at the high school, but the middle school is where I believe the kids can be lost. Thank goodness for programs like Parity that are only in the middle schools working w/ our youth.By Mary
February 16, 2009 8:45 PM | Link to this
Rick, the sources for my previous comments are personal observations as well as anecdotal comments from frustrated parents, teachers, gifted coordinators,and students. I have observed their comments on blogs in the gifted community and at conferences for the past 10 years as well as during testimony before the Ohio legislative committees. I have observed how things are done in my own district as well as the experiences of my own children (as well as my own educational experiences). Middle school experiences and the “middle school philosophy” were a major bone of contention for many of them. Middle school was where weaknesses in our education system for high ability students started to fester big time. I believe part of the problem was due to weaknesses also existing in the elementary school experience. I am sure OAGC (Ohio Association for Gifted Children)- www.oagc.com - would be very willing to help educate education reporters on these issues.By Rick
February 16, 2009 4:06 PM | Link to this
Mary, you are correct. Hopefully, the DDN will write a article or series of articles on this, covering numerous school districts. If you have information on this topic, and I suspect you do, email the various education reporters, for Middletown, Lakota, Springfield with that information.By Take advantage of opportunities
February 15, 2009 2:20 AM | Link to this
Great story, Scott. I would only add that middle school should also be the time to push yourself academically. Most kids (and parents, for that matter) don’t recognize that NOT taking honors courses in middle school limits your choices and opportunities in high school and beyond. So, youngsters, if you DON’T know what you want to do yet (and, really, even if you do) push yourself in the classroom NOW. You’ll thank yourself later.By Mary
February 14, 2009 9:28 PM | Link to this
To many parents and students in the gifted community, middle school is a wasteland where the you know what hits the fan. Many middle schools focus on student hormones (“emotional and physical maturity”) and ignore the brains or intellect. If you want to be in “ballet or basketball”, chances are you will get a lot more support from the school adn community than if you want to learn a foreign language, study astrology, or be a biochemist.