Incoming Chapa Middle School 6th graders Sarah Levine (left) and Taylor Wilson proudly display the Camp Cougar t-shirts they received as part of the fun at the camp’s 6th annual running. The yearly summer session is designed to welcome new students to the campus, let them get familiar with the surroundings, and let them get comfortable with getting involved in the campus community. (Photo by Jim Cullen)
by JIM CULLEN
For the fifth consecutive year, incoming 6th-grade students at Chapa Middle School have been welcomed to the campus by their upper classmen, teachers and staff in the latest running of Camp Cougar. Camp coordinator Leah Cochran reported that well over 100 participants got in on the fun and staked their claim to familiarity with the nationally-recognized campus.
The idea at Chapa and its kissing cousin, WEB (Where Everybody Belongs), at Wallace Middle School, is to make 6th graders more comfortable when transitioning into middle school from the elementary settings where they were “the big kids.” Sometimes a little apprehension creeps into that transition and negatives can arise.
Camp Cougar and the Rangers’ upcoming WEB program are designed to ease those concerns, make incoming students feel sincerely welcomed, and allow those students to begin taking ownership in the school community. Campus faculty and staff want to help participants “become better equipped to make good decisions about their academic career, as well as help them get connected with other students and staff members…and get involved in their school.”
Basics of the day include sometimes humorously-presented, but critical, information, tours of the campus, school pride, clubs and student handbook details.
As in past camps, school namesake Armando Chapa was on hand (he is a frequent visitor to the campus) to offer his smiling encouragement and counsel to new, as well as returning, students. Cochran once said of Chapa’s presence at the camp, “The students are always in awe to meet such a life-impacting man.” Those fortunate enough to know Armando Chapa on a personal level realize that Cochran’s words ring true.
Chapa Middle School and all Hays CISD campuses open for the 2011-2012 school year on Monday, August 22.
