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Hudson Middle Students, Faculty Switch Roles For A Day

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BY KLINT LOWRY The Suncoast News

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

HUDSON - Students took over classrooms and administrative offices at Hudson Middle School on May 16 - and their teachers helped them do it.

The annual Student-Teacher Exchange Day is one of the most anticipated events of the school year at Hudson Middle School. National Junior Honor Society students take the places of teachers and administrators in the classrooms and front office.

"I think it's one of the most positive things we do all year," said Judy Walker, a teacher and NJHS faculty adviser. "The students have a good time; they're in charge, they're teaching. It gives them an idea what we go through and what the administrators do up front."

Teachers also have a good time with exchange day, Walker said. They are still teaching, although it's a bit different.

By its very nature, middle school is a time of transition, from childhood to teen. Exchange day gives participating students the chance to see a familiar setting from a different, more adult perspective.

That was certainly the case for eighth-grader Chelsea Toohey as she took over as principal for Steve Van Gorden.

"I didn't realize how much they did," Chelsea said of school administrators.

She offered the comment as she sat at the principal's desk, checking e-mail and listening to campus walkie-talkie chatter.

"I just thought they kind of walked around saying 'don't do this, don't do that.' But there's a lot of questions and responsibilities."

Of course, the reins of the school could not be completely turned over to an eighth-grader, even an honor student. Much of the time, the situation was like job shadowing, as Chelsea saw the number and variety of issues that can come up in a principal's day. ranged from building issues to calls from parents to students and teachers coming in with their individual issues and incidents to report, negotiate or complain about.

People Skills Are Important

One of the things Chelsea found most interesting was seeing Van Gorden use his people skills. There's more to being a boss than being bossy, as she and her mother had discussed beforehand.

Chelsea was amazed how easily Van Gorden can recall every student's name as they walked around the school.

"It isn't easy, but it is an important part of the job," Van Gorden said.

In a way, Chelsea might have had it easy compared with some of her peers who had to give lectures, administer quizzes and maintain order in classrooms.

Some of the teachers and students spend a day or two preparing. In some cases, the students had to do extra homework for their day as a teacher. Seventh-grader Lexi Carro had to study the founding of the Mormon church in order to teach Larry Rizzi's eighth-grade history class.

"He gave me a textbook," Lexi said. "I read it Wednesday and I read it Thursday and I made little notes at my house."

Rizzi, like all the teachers, was present in the student-run classes, but kept a low profile.

"I sit back, and I try not to get involved," Rizzi said, adding that students were told that Lexi was running a real class session and to treat it as such.

Experience Sticks With Students

Lexi felt her presentation got a little better with each class. She also realized that although teachers have to prepare lesson plans, they also have to be prepared to adjust those plans on the spot to account for the flow of a particular classroom.

Some of the students who took a crack at being a teacher suddenly found themselves at odds with their peers. Seventh-grader Victoria Brown was handling her stint as a science teacher - and finding that the front of a classroom is no place to be soft-spoken.

"They're giving me a little bit of a hard time," she said.

"Because she's mean," Nick Basquit replied. "She yelled at me."

"I didn't yell at him, I told him to sit down," Victoria responded.

Walker has overseen several exchange days. The greatest value of it, she said, is that it gives the students a new perspective on the adults in their lives, and on adulthood.

"One of the things they'll tell you is how tired they are at the end of the day," Walker said.

And it is an experience that sticks with them. From time to time she will run into former students. No matter how many years have passed, one of the first things that will come up is exchange day, and it's always a positive memory.

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