Hi Middle School peers,

We're the "Natural Helpers" team of students and teachers selected by Hackley's middle school students to serve as a resource for help and support. "Natural Helpers" is a peer-helping program used across the United States and in several other countries. It primarily helps middle and high school students who want to strengthen their communication skills and provide support to others. We hope you'll come to us if there's anything you'd like to discuss or if you have ideas on ways in which we can make Hackley a more supportive place.

The purpose of the Natural Helpers at Hackley is to identify concerns voiced from the student body and work together to find solutions. We may do this individually with students or within a group setting.

Last year, we surveyed all middle school students on the topic of stress. Most students responded that their stress sources include: social issues, homework loads, expectations for performing well at school, and family matters. Following the survey, we met with the faculty to discuss what we all could do to help enhance communication between teachers and students in an effort to decrease stress. We discussed ways to relieve stress for both teachers and students in order to support a healthier community. One solution was to strengthen faculty-student relationships by having movie and games nights and weekly advisory lunches. Other suggestions included having teachers teach in novel, creative ways and having more time to be together in non-academic situations. We feel that these suggestions would help both students and teachers relate to one another’s lives and interests.

The responses we received from the faculty were very positive and helped us to further open up a dialogue between teachers and students. Some suggestions such as No Homework Nights and lunch with advisors have already been implemented in different grade levels.

Some things that could be done at home to further help decrease stress include: encouraging conversations, helping out with studying and time management, and especially listening, trusting, and understanding our growing need for independence. Many students also felt that it was important that the parents were not too demanding.

The Natural Helpers meet regularly to discuss other things that can be done to further enhance our school environment. If you have any suggestions for our Natural Helpers please contact Dr. Kleeger at 366-2667 or at ekleeger@hackleyschool.org.

The Natural Helpers group consists of representatives from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades as well as faculty members Eve Kleeger, Preetha Chakrabarti and Jenny Leffler. For more information on Natural Helpers, visit www.nhny.org.