School Spotlight: Edgewood Enriches Lives
WARSAW — Edgewood Middle School is comprised of both hardworking students and staff. From endeavors to continually improve academics, technology and STEM initiatives, the school is working to entrench itself amongst the top 10 percent of middle schools in the state. Though Edgewood is working hard to ensure students meet state testing expectations, according to Principal JoElla Smyth, at Edgewood, students are more than “just numbers.”
If you had talked to Smyth three years ago, she admits her ideas on education and running a school would be very different from now. During a time where classrooms are becoming increasingly cutting-edge, Smyth notes the changes within her school are more than just skin deep. Edgewood is looking past test scores and into the hearts and minds of students to help make their dreams a reality and instill a sense of community at a young age.
“Some schools are good at one aspect of education but not another,” explained Smyth, “We are striving to be exceptional at everything we do. We aren’t just teaching to a test — we are teaching to the future… Kids are more than numbers. They are more than score and more than a grade.”
According to Smyth and Assistant Principal Michael Casey, students at Edgewood have already been working hard to make a big difference in the community in just the few short weeks school has been in session. Students recently had the opportunity to raise money for Feed My Starving Children. After receiving a challenge from DARE officer, Joe Hawn, stating he would either shave his head or dye his hair should students reach a fundraising goal, students banded together to make a difference. Overall, students raised $2,783.11. An anonymous donor and former Edgewood student then matched the overall amount, for a total of $5,566.22 for the Mobile Pack.
In addition, students at Edgewood purchased a total of 215 breast cancer awareness shirts with proceeds from the sale of each shirt going toward the Kosciusko Cancer Awareness fund.
“We wanted to not only bing that awareness to our students, but to encourage them to be a part of something bigger,” explained Casey.
Each student who purchased a shirt, and those who wore pink, were able to participate in a “pink out” photograph. Students stood together to form a massive pink ribbon that was photographed from atop a fire crane and by a drone. In addition to the ribbon, students were invited to fill out a tribute at the school honoring or remembering survivors of breast cancer in their own lives.
The effort to “enrich the lives of others” did not stop there for students at Edgewood. Following the formation of the ribbon, students then traveled to Grace College to participate in the Feed My Starving Children mobile pack, where students worked in an assembly line to pack meals for the world’s hungry.
Smyth noted efforts to help supply food to those in need will continue at the school. Students will soon be participating in a canned food drive that last year brought in approximately 3,000 items.
As students learn to make a difference in their community, both Smyth and Casey noted they are working to make a difference for their students as well. Administrators, support staff and teachers are making efforts to be accessible to students through learning about their lives, dreams and needs.
“We are taking the time to listen. Each student has a goal sheet and we are asking, ‘What is your dream?'” stated Smyth. “That is why we do this job. We don’t go into education for numbers… We do it for people — for our students.”