[Danielle Balocca]: Hey, Medford Bites listeners. Today's episode was created completely by the students in Mr. Cormier's fifth grade class from the Roberts Elementary School. As this end of the school year approaches, they wanted to explore their upcoming transition to middle school. They prepared all of their own questions for the principals and students of both middle schools, as well as some of their favorite memories from elementary school and advice for students in younger grades. I hope you enjoy. All right, thank you all so much for joining me today. I'm here with Mr. Cormier's class at the Roberts Elementary School. And we are going to be doing a little interview with some special guests today from the McGlynn Middle School. So if you on that end, could you just take a moment to introduce yourselves with your name and pronouns?
[Nick Tucci]: Hi, good morning, everybody. My name is Mr. Tucci, and I'm the principal of the John J. McGlynn Middle School. And my pronouns are he and him. Turning it over to sixth grade students here. Starting with Nell.
[SPEAKER_09]: Hi, I'm Nell Reese and my pronouns are she, her.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Luti Martino and my pronouns are he, him.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right, thank you all. So during every podcast, I always ask my guests what their favorite place to eat is in Medford. And Mr. Cormier's class did vote on this. And their answers were number one, Bertucci's, number two, Avellino's, and number three was Domino's. So lots of pizza over here. Okay, so the fifth graders here prepared some questions to ask you all about the transition to middle school. So I'm gonna have them one at a time, ask their questions.
[Brothers]: Where's john Hi, my name is john de mayo and my pronouns are are he and him. What is the most challenging thing about the transition from elementary school and middle school.
[Nick Tucci]: I'm going to answer that question. Great question, by the way. I'm going to answer that question from the perspective of a principal. You know, one of the biggest challenges is from an academic standpoint, where you're not just going to have one primary teacher, like you might in elementary school, and you're now going to have a number of different teachers. In fact, you're going to be going to eight different periods throughout the course of a school day. And you're going to have to meet the challenges and demands that each teacher sets forth for them on a given day. So while that's a challenge, it's also an exciting part about the transition to middle school as well, being able to interact with different educators that are going to be involved in your day-to-day schedule. I'm going to turn it over to Nell and Luke to answer the questions from a student standpoint.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, well, for me, the most challenging part was, uh, really like memorizing and getting my schedule down. And, uh, because I was used to just sitting with one teacher all day in my classroom. But then once I started getting a schedule where I had one teacher for like back-to-back classes, like a double block, and then, um, another like teacher for just one class, it was like, it kind of confused you at first, but then once you get your schedule down, it makes it a lot easier and your days just fly by because they feel even quicker when you teach every period.
[SPEAKER_09]: For me, it was also probably the schedule. On the first day I got lost because you have to go to different floors for some classes. But after I got used to where all my classes were, like Luke said, the classes went by quickly because you got new teachers and points of views and stuff. is explained really well and they can also stay after school to help you if you get confused or anything.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Davi.
[SPEAKER_04]: Hi, I'm Davi. My pronouns are he, him. And this can be answered by any one of you. I just want to know, will I still see my friends in side A if I'm in side B?
[Nick Tucci]: David, thanks. Great question. Absolutely. You'll be able to see your friends if you're placed on one side or the other. There are many opportunities for that before school and even during school. You know, we all eat lunch in the cafeteria together. We all go outside to recess together. And certainly you'll be on your respective side, whether it be side A or side B for your core classes. meaning classes like math, English, social studies, and science. But when you go to your exploratory classes, you'll have the opportunity to be able to be a part of exploratory classes with people mixed up from both side A and side B. One last thing I'll note is that after-school activities are going to be something we're really going to encourage you to be a part of, join a club, a sport, an activity. Certainly, you'll have the opportunity to be able to interact with people on both sides in those clubs, sports, and activities. And taking it one step further, if you are placed at the McGlynn School and maybe your friend is at the Andrews or vice versa, you'll also have the opportunity to interact with students at the other middle school for the clubs, activities, and sports that we really want to encourage you to be a part of. So that's your answer to that question there.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. I think we have a good follow-up coming for that question.
[SPEAKER_05]: Hi, I'm Callaway and my pronouns are she, her. What are some of the after school clubs do you recommend? Can you describe a few?
[Nick Tucci]: All right, great question. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna turn it over to a couple of our students answer that question. And I'll circle back if there's any missing elements.
[SPEAKER_09]: Um, so there are, like, so many clubs to join, uh, all with, like, different interests. Uh, like Mr. Choochoo said, there are sports as well, but some of the clubs are, like, the drama club, there's an art club, um, there's, like, a chess club, and, really, you get one of the first couple of weeks of school, like, before you kind of get into school, you get to see all the different clubs and who's going to be in them. And you get the chance to sign up with people from the Andrews. So it's really fun.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I did CCSR this year, which I think is a very good call because you get to help out your community and everyone around you. And even like, people all across the world you can help out with like different like food drives or like giving clothing to other people around the world and all that stuff and the sporting for the school, like sports after school. I was on the middle school basketball team and all the kids were very nice and the coaches were very nice and everybody was just having a good time doing it and it was like a nice competitive atmosphere.
[Nick Tucci]: Great question there. And that's actually one of my biggest piece of advice, too, as well, to get involved with a club sport activity right from the get-go. We'll have a Club and Activities Fair, as Nell alluded to, at the beginning of the school year next year. So you can look for that to happen sometime in September, one of the first weeks of school. We'll have that big fair with all the club's activities. We'll set up tables, and you'll be able to interact with the club members and their advisors, ask questions, and then join right there on the spot at that Club and Activities Fair. But certainly a really good thing to be a part of. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_03]: My name is Mohammed and I have a question. So what are the teacher's expectations for students in middle school? And are they more strict with behavior and academics?
[Nick Tucci]: You know what, I'm gonna hear the feedback of the students too as well. Perhaps they can talk a little bit about their experiences, about how much homework they might get. But I would say that in middle school, I ask students to bring their ACE every single day to school. ACE is an acronym that stands for Attitude for A, C for Concentration and E for Effort. And I ask students to bring their ace every single day to school as they walk in through the doors. And I feel like if you have a good attitude, you're concentrating on your studies and you exert a good effort, you're surrounded by a lot of students and staff members that can help and support you. And certainly we have high expectations. We want to see you, you know, learning in the classroom. We want to see you growing as a learner and you're going to be pushed. You know, you're not going to get better and you're not going to grow as a learner and as a person if your teachers don't push you certain days, but we have a lot of fun to as well, you're going to meet a lot of new peers, you can interact with a lot of great educators, and you'll, you'll grow over the time your middle school career. I would say that, you know, you are going to, you know, come to see that probably the level of expectation and your academic rigor is going to increase from elementary to middle school. And I'll let the students kind of speak maybe a little bit to, you know, the amount of homework that they might get on a daily basis, and kind of help you understand from a student perspective a little bit more about the work that is expected of you. So turn it over to Mal and Luke.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, from my experience with that jump from like just that one, like it all kind of depends on what teacher you have, because If you just have like one teacher in fifth grade, you know their expectations for you at all times. But then once you get to middle school, you have all different teachers with all different expectations and all different work. But most of the time, you'll only get, I would say, like an hour of homework at the very most for depending on what classes you take. So for me on side B, I've only this year got homework from ELA in math, but nothing from ancient civilizations or science yet, though you could get homework at any time or something to do at home.
[SPEAKER_06]: Is that enough?
[SPEAKER_09]: Yeah. So I think the teachers, they'll like push you so that you learn, but they're never going to make you do something that they think you can't do. And like Mr. Tucci said, if you just try your hardest, it doesn't really matter how smart you are, because as long as they can see that you're trying, they'll help you and encourage you. And yeah.
[Nick Tucci]: And on the topic of behavior, we certainly want to make sure that people are behaving themselves in school. If people are kind of misbehaving in school, it wouldn't really promote an atmosphere that's going to be conducive to learning. So, you know, we kind of follow the Mustang way here, you know, doing what is expected of you. And we want you to respect people. We want to all get along and be collaborative and work together. And, you know, we have a good, helpful, fun school environment and we want that to stay the same. So we want people to come into middle school experience wanting to, you know, behave and meet our expectations and, you know, certainly we'll help you grow along the way as well. So, thanks for that question.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Okay, I think we have our final question coming up.
[Brothers]: Hi, my name is Matthew and this question is going to be for the principal. Why did you choose to become a principal?
[Nick Tucci]: I chose to become a principal because I love kids and I love working with students, you know, and that's something you'll, you'll get to know about me or I'll get to know everybody's name, you know, here in the school, you know, you'll see me, you know, in the hallways and I'll be interacting with different people over the course of your time in middle school and I'll get to know who you are, you know, the course your time. because that's my driving principle, so to speak. I just like people, I like kids, and I like to see them grow. I grew up in Medford myself. I went through the Metro Public Schools. I have a lot of pride in the city of Medford. I've had opportunities to go elsewhere, but I really and truly love being in the city of Medford and working in the public schools here. So, it's a great place to be in middle school because middle school students are really influential, you know, they're at like a crossroads in their life, where they have, you know, certain opportunities to be able to make very important decisions before they head off to high school about who they are as people. not just as learners, but as people in general. And I feel like as a principal, I can make an impact and touch them in various ways to help them find their success and reach their potential in a lot of different fashions. So that's a really good question, but I think to answer it and get to the crux of it, I became a principal because I really like students and I want to impact students and I wanted to choose a profession that was impactful. Not just a profession, I could just simply make money and it's a job. Certainly it's a job for me, but it's more than that. It's such an important profession, being an educator, and being an instructional leader, and being a person that influences people. That's my answer for you.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Those are all of our questions. I'm curious, Nell and Luke, if you could share your favorite part of middle school so far.
[SPEAKER_09]: So my favorite part of middle school so far has probably been like interacting with everybody because the classes like the teachers make them really fun but I've really enjoyed like in our exploratories and like working together and stuff and during clubs and like after school or before school that's probably my favorite part just meeting a lot of new people and like enjoying my time here.
[SPEAKER_01]: My favorite part, just like Noah, was like interacting with everybody and making new friends because at first I was a bit worried because most of my friends were on side A and I didn't think that I would see them as much. And you don't see them quite as much as the kids on your side, but I made tons of new friends this year from kids in my homeroom and all my core classes and exploratories. So it makes your middle school experience more fun the more people you meet. talk to and all of your teachers make it just as fun too.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Thanks all three of you for being here with us today. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness in answering these questions.
[Nick Tucci]: You are very, very welcome. You guys had some really fantastic questions too as well. So that tells a lot about you guys in terms of your level of thoughtfulness going into this presentation and this podcast. So thank you all for inviting us to be a part of it. We're certainly happy to help in your transition from elementary to middle school. And as I said in the open house a few weeks back, which these folks were involved into as well, I'm very happy to meet you guys over the summertime even too as well. If you'd ever like to set up an appointment with myself as a principal, I'm happy to meet you in advance of the school year to support you. And be on the lookout for a sixth grade orientation coming up in the middle of August in preparation for the start of next school year. And we'll usually have like a barbecue or slush too as well to go along with that. So looking forward to that. But in the meantime, have a great, wonderful end of this school year and a wonderful summer.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right, thank you.
[Nick Tucci]: Welcome.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right, now we're here with the Andrews Middle School. Thanks so much for joining us today. If you guys could just start by introducing yourselves, your name and pronouns.
[ih84fneWXk0_SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Mr. Downs. I'm the principal of the Andrews Middle School. I just go by him, or he.
[Brothers]: Hi, I'm Olivia O'Brien. I'm a sixth grader at the Andrews Middle School and my pronouns are she, her. My name is Georgia Scott. I go to Daniels Middle School. I'm in my she, her, and I'm in sixth grade.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right. Thank you. So I have Gabe here who's going to ask you a question.
[Brothers]: Hello. My name is Gabriel Silva, and my pronouns are he, him. And I'd like to ask you guys a question. What is homework like in middle school? Is it every night? What happens when you don't complete your assignments? So basically, on B-SAT at least, as long as you have a due date for your assignment, it'll usually be a couple days after, so you'll have time to complete your homework. And usually, if you're reading a book, you'll have homework every night for that book to make sure you're reading. And you'll just have to make sure you keep up. And as long as you do manage your teacher, if it's late work, they'll probably give you a good amount of points for it. All the teachers are different too, so they have different rules on when to turn in.
[SPEAKER_05]: Hi, I'm Olivia. My pronouns are she, her, two students. Can you tell us what it is like to switch classes? Is having more than one teacher difficult?
[Brothers]: It's usually not confusing because all the classes are near each other. And you just move to each class after each period and you get used to it. Yeah, and then you also schedule they'll give you schedules and make sure you always have the right class. And yeah, pretty easy. Thank you. Hi, I'm Jalen and my pronouns are she, her. I have two questions to the students. Can you describe what your first day of middle school was like? It was very nerve wracking, to be honest, because it's a new school and there's a lot of new people here. because all schools are mixing, but you'll make a lot of new friends and it gets it's really fun. Yeah, my first day was really nervous. But you know, the teachers are super nice on both sides. And my other question is, do you have any advice for incoming sixth graders? Just do your homework really? Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right, we have our final question coming up.
[Brothers]: Hello, my name is Charles. I have a question for the principal and my pronouns are she, him. Are there any house rules you think we should know before entering middle school?
[ih84fneWXk0_SPEAKER_00]: Any house rules?
[Brothers]: Yeah.
[ih84fneWXk0_SPEAKER_00]: So each team has their own rules and expectations. They're very similar though. But what we ask here at the Andrews is that we model excellence and responsibility and respect. You're responsible for yourself, and we ask you to be respectful to not only others, but yourself at the same time. Very simple here. Just follow that model, and you're going to be just fine. Thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Before we end our talk right now, I was wondering if the students, if you could share the best part of middle school so far.
[Brothers]: Um, well, I really honestly just love talking to my friends. And it's really fun because you also get to branch out a little bit because even though you're going to have like most of the same classes with the same people, you also have like different like exploratories with different people. And you also have different like languages or maybe even a support class with different people.
[SPEAKER_06]: And it's super fun.
[Brothers]: I like how we have different teachers because because they're both more focused on what questions you have in each subject.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great, so teachers that are experts in their subjects. Great, well thank you all so much for joining us.
[ih84fneWXk0_SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys for having us. We look forward to seeing our incoming sixth graders next year. All right, thank you. Thank you guys, have a good day.
[Danielle Balocca]: The students from Mr. Cormier's fifth grade class wanted to share some memories of elementary school.
[Brothers]: Hi, my name is Alyssa Bucknum, and my pronouns are she, her. And my favorite elementary school memory is when we got to play with the parachute in the gym. Some of the best things we got to do are games such as Tom and Jerry and Shark in the Lifeguard. We also got to lift the parachute up and go inside it. Or we got to go on top of it and pop the bubble of air. The parachute was the best. I'm going to miss it. Hello, my name is Adan and I go by he or him. My favorite memory from elementary school was the second grade field trip. We got to go to Legoland, which I'd never been to before. And I was amazed about like all the Lego sets there. And the best part of it was definitely like a little movie trailer thing. They sprayed like some stuff, they gave us 3D glasses. Now that I look back at it, I really have wanted to go back ever since. That's my favorite memory. Hi, my name is Mark Marino and my pronouns are he, him. My favorite elementary school memory was switching schools. This is my favorite memory because the school was easier, days were shorter, and I got to make new friends. We switched schools because my old school was saying my brother might have to stay back and it was getting hard. When COVID hit, things were bad because there was no Zoom so we had to watch videos on our work. When we heard we were coming to this school, me and my brother were happy, but we were a little sad because we wouldn't miss our friends. We came to the Roberts, we made new friends on the first day, and that's why switching schools was my favorite memory, and that was my favorite memory I have had in school.
[SPEAKER_07]: My name is Michael Sumitakis and my pronouns are him and he. My favorite memory I had at this school was probably when I was in second grade in Ms. Keller's class. We did this project where we wrote on a giant paper and wrote about our future and where we wanted to live when we grow up. I remember I wanted to be a basketball player and stay close to where I live in Boston. On the day we read our speeches to our classmates and their parents, I remember walking in with a Celtics jersey. When I read my speech, I wore sunglasses as the writing project was called My Future's Looking Bright. This was a project I would never forget.
[Brothers]: Hello, my name is James Moreno and my pronouns are he slash him. I remember when I came to the Roberts School the first time. I came here last year for fourth grade and I had Mrs. Nevers. We had to start off at home on Zoom, but then by the end of the year, I saw her in person. I thought this school was a really great school because I met a lot of good friends and teachers. I was excited to go to fifth grade and I would imagine what it would be like in fifth grade while in class. That was my favorite memory when I came to this school.
[Danielle Balocca]: And finally, Mr. Cormier's class would like to share some advice for younger students.
[SPEAKER_06]: Hi, I'm Lucy McSheffery and I go by she her and I have some advice for a fourth grader. Once you finish fifth grade, you'll look back and wonder why you ever worried.
[Brothers]: Hi, my name is Gabrielle and my pronouns are she, her. You might be nervous about going into fifth grade, but it's really nothing to worry about. Don't get me wrong, fifth grade can be difficult at times, but don't stress, you'll be fine. Fifth grade is actually a lot of fun. There are a lot of fun activities to look forward to at the end of the year. The motto is don't worry, be happy. Hi, I'm Gianna Sullivan, and I grew up by she, her. And I have some advice for incoming fourth graders.
[SPEAKER_05]: Since fifth grade is the last year of elementary school, it may seem scary. Even if things get hard, you have to tell yourself, I can do it.
[Brothers]: Always give a test your best shot. You will always have to be ready for a new chapter in school because there could be a harder lesson in any subject. The last thing I want to tell you is make good decisions in school so you don't get in trouble. Hi, my name is Matthew. My pronouns are he, him. If you get Mr. Cornell as a fifth grade teacher, you will have to be ready for a few things, like a sharing project, which is a book report. You will have to read a book, type a summary, and make a project. It might seem like a lot, but it's not that hard to do. Hi, my name is Charles. I'm back. I have some advice for all those fourth graders coming up to fifth grade. This grade seems like it will be scary, but you have nothing to worry about. Here's why. First, don't be afraid. It's always hard to do something new, but you'll get the hang of the grade and show it who's boss. Next, don't let tests frighten you. They get bigger, but the amazing teachers will help you do great. Finally, if you are seriously down in the dumps, in the Roberts, you get to be part of the student council, where you prepare fundraisers and spirit days for the entire school. That's all the advice I can give for those fourth graders coming up to the final grade at elementary school.
[SPEAKER_05]: fifth grade. Hi, I'm Emma McCormick. I go by she or her. Going to fifth grade might seem scary. All the teachers are really nice though. Some stuff might look hard, but it will be easy. I was nervous too, but it got easier as the time went on. So don't worry.
[Danielle Balocca]: All right. Thank you so much to Mr. Cormier's class and congratulations on finishing fifth grade. Thank you so much to Mr. Cormier's class, as well as the principals and students from the middle schools. Congratulations on approaching the completion of another year for all Medford students. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. And as always, if you have feedback about this episode or ideas for future episodes, you can email medfordpod at gmail.com. You can also subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Never Bites. Never Bites. Good job.