Middle School Challenge Days
This practice begins with the Challenge Day program developed by Challenge Associates (www.challengeday.org), but is much more at St. Louis Charter School. The school has 330 middle school students in grades 6-8.  Each spring, they gather sixth graders and staff in the gym for their first Challenge Day. Students are assigned random groups and work through various challenges such as sharing things about themselves that their peers are unlikely to know. Challenge Day ends with a whole group meeting.  Immediately following Challenge Day, each classroom teacher facilitates a class meeting for reflection and feedback. During 7th and 8th grade, Challenge Day activities continue. The school has early release days twice per month. One day is 7th grade Challenge Day, the other 8th. The designated grade level meets to continue working through challenges facilitated initially by adults, but later by trained student mentors. Monthly Challenge Days end with a whole group meeting and then individual classroom meetings.  Each day of the week is also designated with a specific school-wide challenge such as “Mix It Up Day” when students challenge themselves to eat lunch outside their social groups.