Calavera Hills Middle School revamps WEB program

Big changes are underway at , and WEB is one of them.

WEB has been a part of Calavera Hills Middle School for years; an international leadership program that exists in middle schools, WEB (Where Everybody Belongs) is made up of eighth grade students called "WEB leaders." The WEB leaders serve as leaders and mentors on campus, helping sixth graders make the transition to middle school and building relationships with them throughout the year.

This year, WEB is up to new things, making more efforts to reach out to the sixth graders than ever.

“There’s a desire to be involved,” Calavera Hills Middle School WEB advisor Teanna Evans said. “We now have to have an application process with interviews.”

WEB has new roles in mentoring the sixth grade students. Fourteen of the WEB leaders will each give a sixth grader that needs special attention one-on-one tutoring, a new aspect of WEB that was just introduced last year. The tutors put in immense amounts of dedication into tutoring.

“The kids often re-learn the information the sixth grader is learning, like history," Evans said. "They are really awesome."

In addition to tutoring, WEB leaders will visit the sixth-grade advisory classes weekly throughout the entire year, forming long-term relationships with the sixth graders. These relationships help foster motivation and a positive environment, improving the sixth graders' outlook on school.

"They build special bonds with those kids that don't want to be here," Evans said. "One of the most important things is building relationships. If we don't build relationships, the students aren't going to care. If we do have those relationships, the students will want to do well and get better."

Although geared toward sixth graders, WEB also has an impact on the entire school. Last year, in response to a bullying incident, the WEB leaders decided to make a change in Calavera's eighth grade standout awards from categories like "Best Eyes" to character-based categories like "Most Likely to Help an Old Person Across the Street". Through actions like these, WEB hopes to send a message throughout the student body.

"Our school is about being a better person, not about who has the best hair or who is the biggest flirt," Evans said. "WEB, being a leadership program, can have many effects rippling through the entire school. I always tell the kids not to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world."

WEB hopes to make more changes and do more events in the future.

"It's in the planning stages, but we want to have a sixth-grade Olympics for them at the end of the year," Evans said. "It would be kind of like a goodbye for them."

With these changes, WEB will help sixth graders have the best middle school experience possible. By bonding with the sixth grade students and serving as role models on campus, the WEB leaders will continue to strive for a positive, comfortable campus environment for sixth graders, seventh graders and eighth graders alike.

"It's about having that connection so that the sixth graders know they always have someone to turn to, someone they can count on," Evans said. "It's amazing to see how able we are to make changes because of our strong community."