LYNN — At the beginning of the school year, Sisson Elementary fifth-grade teacher Jessie Glidden and special education teacher Stephanie Geller got together to form a new group: the Soaring Eagles.
Monday, as the school year wound closer to the end, Glidden discussed the group’s achievements, and the reasoning behind starting the program.
Glidden said the eagles are a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students who are dedicated to leadership, bettering the school, the community, and themselves.
“A lot of them have jobs around the school, so some of them are in the hallway during lunch and transition times to remind students to be quiet,” Glidden said. “Once a week, they also pick up recycling from the classrooms.”
Along with daily responsibilities, the group partakes in larger tasks as well. Earlier this year, the Eagles conducted a canned food drive. They have started a recycling program, regularly partake in fundraisers, and are considering working on a mural in the school.
“We talk about just how they can ‘SOAR’ on a daily basis,” Glidden said.
SOAR is an acronym for Safe, Outstanding, Accountable, and Respectful. The group is composed of 20 students who were originally asked to write to Glidden and Geller, telling them why they wanted to be an Eagle.
“Anyone who wanted to join was allowed to join,” Glidden said.
Glidden said she’s noticed the confidence of students in the group change throughout the year and says they have opened up their communication among other students. She’s also noticed transition periods and lunchtimes have gotten quieter, due to the eagles monitoring the hallways during those times.
“When my class is walking down the hallway at the end of the day, they’re able to say ‘hi’ and give high-fives to a lot of the fourth graders that they know from Soaring Eagles that they wouldn’t know already,” Glidden said.
On March 6, Soaring Eagle Wesley Ray was tasked with escorting Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson around the school, as part of Read Across America Week. Nicholson was there to Sisson to read to students.
“I just thought that I wanted to make the school a better place,” Ray said about deciding to join the group. “(I) think about things that will help the school and help people in need, like we had a food drive and we’re also thinking about painting a mural.”
When he grows up, Ray said he’d like to be a firefighter.
