"First impressions make up your entire idea of what someone or something is like, and if, for example, your emphasis forgets you are part of their department, that could have an impact on your first impression."
--Chiara Kovac, 7th grade
First impressions make up your entire idea of what someone or something is like, and if, for example, your emphasis forgets you are part of their department, that could have an impact on your first impression. I am a reporter for the OSA Telegraph and I have completed 6th grade. I know the drama and confusion of the first few weeks and yes, my emphasis did forget me. But this is not about me. This is about the newest 6th graders, and how they are adjusting to middle school and the block schedule.
The first 6th grader I interviewed was Satine Courtade-Pappalardo, a Vocalist. She came here from a French school and immediately noticed some key differences between the movies about middle school and OSA.
“I thought it would be really cliche,” she recalls, later adding that she thought it would be bigger too, since the Fox Theater was so big it was hard to see what was OSA and what wasn’t. Courtade-Pappalardo also thought that every emphasis would have it’s own distinctive space, although noted that middle school was still much more independent than elementary. She imagined people practicing lines for a play, sketching things in their notebooks, stretching, practicing choreography, and singing every chance they got. Courtade-Pappalardo says she also expected meaner and stricter teachers, and was happy to find most of her teachers are a really good fit.
Before Courtade-Pappalardo started school she was nervous and excited, but after a week she had adjusted. “Like when I go to open my locker it feels like I have done it a ton of times before, it just feels normal,” she said.
Courtade-Pappalardo looks forward to ice skating in PE and making new or more friends from different arts departments . She wants to improve her math skills and watch art shows and performances from a variety of arts.
Courtade-Pappalardo is very confident and really likes OSA. She says she will stay there for at least middle school. At the very least, she says she might change her emphasis.
The next interviewee was Holly Young from the Literary Arts Department. Young was excited to start middle school, expecting half the day to be designated art time, extremely weird students, and lots more fun opportunities for her. But for Young it was a downward slope. She states that she was, “Going home crying, and coming back (to school) happy.”
When Young was asked to state positive outlooks, she said that the staff and teachers were unique with their own personalities and ways of teaching. Holly looks forward to holiday breaks and OSA events. She hopes to make more friends and to get good grades.
Holly is having doubts about OSA, but she is going to complete the year.
The final student interviewed was Maya Engel, who was from the Theater Department, whose outlook on OSA was very positive. Engel really liked her first week here although there was a lot more homework, she said theater made up for it because of how fun it was. “It didn't even feel like school anymore,” she said.
Engel really wants to get into a play, and enjoys her theater electives. She likes how kind the staff is, especially her emphasis teachers. “ [Theater teachers] are just so out there, you know? You can really tell they are theater people.”
Maya did say she expected OSA to be bigger and also thought that we would have a separate place for PE. She also did not expect to have OSA so spread out. When asked if she would complete the school year at OSA she said “YES! 100%!”
Read below for a poll taken from eight 6th graders:
The first 6th grader I interviewed was Satine Courtade-Pappalardo, a Vocalist. She came here from a French school and immediately noticed some key differences between the movies about middle school and OSA.
“I thought it would be really cliche,” she recalls, later adding that she thought it would be bigger too, since the Fox Theater was so big it was hard to see what was OSA and what wasn’t. Courtade-Pappalardo also thought that every emphasis would have it’s own distinctive space, although noted that middle school was still much more independent than elementary. She imagined people practicing lines for a play, sketching things in their notebooks, stretching, practicing choreography, and singing every chance they got. Courtade-Pappalardo says she also expected meaner and stricter teachers, and was happy to find most of her teachers are a really good fit.
Before Courtade-Pappalardo started school she was nervous and excited, but after a week she had adjusted. “Like when I go to open my locker it feels like I have done it a ton of times before, it just feels normal,” she said.
Courtade-Pappalardo looks forward to ice skating in PE and making new or more friends from different arts departments . She wants to improve her math skills and watch art shows and performances from a variety of arts.
Courtade-Pappalardo is very confident and really likes OSA. She says she will stay there for at least middle school. At the very least, she says she might change her emphasis.
The next interviewee was Holly Young from the Literary Arts Department. Young was excited to start middle school, expecting half the day to be designated art time, extremely weird students, and lots more fun opportunities for her. But for Young it was a downward slope. She states that she was, “Going home crying, and coming back (to school) happy.”
When Young was asked to state positive outlooks, she said that the staff and teachers were unique with their own personalities and ways of teaching. Holly looks forward to holiday breaks and OSA events. She hopes to make more friends and to get good grades.
Holly is having doubts about OSA, but she is going to complete the year.
The final student interviewed was Maya Engel, who was from the Theater Department, whose outlook on OSA was very positive. Engel really liked her first week here although there was a lot more homework, she said theater made up for it because of how fun it was. “It didn't even feel like school anymore,” she said.
Engel really wants to get into a play, and enjoys her theater electives. She likes how kind the staff is, especially her emphasis teachers. “ [Theater teachers] are just so out there, you know? You can really tell they are theater people.”
Maya did say she expected OSA to be bigger and also thought that we would have a separate place for PE. She also did not expect to have OSA so spread out. When asked if she would complete the school year at OSA she said “YES! 100%!”
Read below for a poll taken from eight 6th graders:
