Student leaders in Pattonville United introduced high school life to a group of students from Remington Traditional when they visited the building on Jan. 6 as part of a field trip.
“I think the part the students were most infatuated with, surprisingly, was that we had three gyms,” senior Kevin Bowers said. “They were also surprised to hear that we have 6 minutes for passing period and we get to carry our backpacks around instead of keeping them in a locker ”
He said the students left with a new knowledge of the school.
“I feel that since they come from such a small school, the tour in general was a good experience for them.”
Pattonville United is a group that started last year in the Pattonville School District. Its goal is to unite the Pattonville community as a whole and to help ensure that 8th grade students have something to get involved in when they get to the high school.
After a survey was conducted by Pattonville United of the seniors in 2016, it was found that the biggest regret of high school students was not getting involved. The group now tries to spread awareness that there is a lot that Pattonville has to offer and to make sure that every student has something to get involved in when they get to the high school.
Last year, the group traveled to Remington Traditional, Holman Middle School and Heights Middle School, but since Remington Traditional has a small 8th grade class, it was able to visit the high school to take a group tour. Pattonville United will be visiting Holman and Heights later in the month.
On the visit, students opened with an icebreaker game called ‘Untangling The Human Knot’ to get the students loosened up before the informational session. They then watched a video that the Pattonville United group prepared. It was about the day in the life of a high school student where it showed different classes, passing periods, lunch and after school activities.
“I went around for about 2 weeks with a GoPro and filmed activities around the school,” sophomore Will Polster said. “I then sent it to Abby Surlet to put it together.”
After the video, students got to ask questions about the high school and Pattonville United students answered them and talked more about things that students don’t usually know. Some of the things they talked about was carrying around a backpack versus using a locker, class requirements, community service hours, and what school supplies to bring on the first day.
After the Q&A session the students took a building tour and they left around 10:45 a.m.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Friday, Jan. 20, Pattonville United will be taking trips to Holman and Heights middle schools to continue spreading their knowledge of Pattonville.
