Lake Braddock is committed to service-learning as a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
By implementing service-learning programs, we are helping young men and women further develop skills that are not easily taught in a classroom setting such as leadership, commitment, civic responsibility, teamwork, and self-confidence.
9 th Grade Counts! is a service-learning program that provides high school seniors the opportunity to share their experiences and, at the same time, provide middle school students with the stepping-stones to achieve continued academic and extracurricular success. Seniors will serve their school by sharing academic and life experiences. (School Board Achievement Goals #2 Life Skills and #3 Service to the Community) .
To help 8th grade students make a successful transition to high school, senior government students serve as Transition Ambassadors (TA). TAs assist middle and high school counselors and faculty in preparing and registering 8 th graders for their first year of high school. Many times, students fail to recognize the importance of their high school freshman year. This can result in low GPAs, failed SOL tests, and a lack of resume building extracurricular activities - negatively impacting future efforts to gain college admission. Firsthand "real world" perspectives from graduating seniors are a powerful learning experience for 8 th grade students.
All students will enjoy significant benefits from the 9 th Grade Counts! program: academic encouragement and support, exposure to career opportunities, and help making better life choices.
Ultimately, we will ease the transition to high school by building upon the caring environment of LBSS and designing transition programs, such as 9 th Grade Counts! , that address the needs of students and facilitate communication between middle school and high school educators.
What Are The Benefits?
...For the 8 th Grade Student
• Understand the effects of taking a challenging curriculum on future educational and career options
• Develops academic and social self-confidence
• Promotes the importance of extracurricular and community activities
• Develops postsecondary education expectations
• Provide opportunities for career exploration
• Identify academic strengths and weaknesses
• Gain awareness of high school standardized assessments and how the results will be used
• Promotes positive values and personal responsibility
• Promotes collaboration and engages peers as co-educators
How Do I Learn More?
• Contact Lake Braddock's Middle School Guidance Office
