Over the past years, there have been students helping with how our school is shaped, but for the first time, the middle school staff has made it an official program called the PAWS Ambassadors. Seventh and eighth grade students had the chance to apply to become PAWS Ambassadors. To become a PAWS Ambassador, students had to fill out an application and get it signed by one of their teachers from the year before. Being a PAWS Ambassador includes helping with the House Cup, counting points, coming up with activities for assemblies, choosing PAWS prizes, and making our school a better and more positive place.
The seventh grade students that were chosen by the PAWS staff were Kaylee Anderson, Mila Bair, Eli Bruce, Wyatt Donawitz, Jacey Lawrence, and Jerah Shiring. The eighth grade students that were chosen were Chase Andrews, Madison Capehart, Kaitlin Evans, Grace Friend, Anna Schomburg, and Katelyn VanDeCar. So far, these students have had the chance to count house points, choose PAWS prizes, speak on the announcements, and push the Woot Woot Cart around during academic support, to show teacher appreciation.
“We started the PAWS Ambassadors program to get kids in the process; for them to become leaders and get other kids motivated. I think it will make the students in all the grade levels get involved more because they are hearing the friends’ voices,” Mrs. Tina Boyd, PAWS team coach, said. “We had a lot of applications in. I definitely think we will continue this program in future years, and we will have to get more kids involved.”
“We wanted to get more student voices in the PAWS program. I think this could make a huge impact because if students are the ones helping to make the decisions, then more students will be more willing or likely to get involved,” Miss Sara Heiman, PAWS team coach, stated. “I’d say we had a decent amount of applications come in. We’ve had student groups in the past, but this year we wanted students to basically nominate themselves, which is why we had students send in applications rather than them being appointed to a certain position.”
The PAWS Ambassadors hope to bring students together and make our 2024-25 school year the best one yet!
