Olympia From A Middle School Perspective

Olympia From A Middle School Perspective

Our digital journalism class recently visited Reeves Middle School to interview students about Washington State history. The group I had consisted of two boys and one girl, I wont say their names but they were extremely open about the questions I asked them, but something else stood out to me; their opinions about Olympia from a middle school perspective.

I noticed common trend between the students answers about why they like Olympia and one of the main things that stood out to me was the sense of community that these students saw. I was once a middle school kid and not once did I ever think of my hometown as having a good community. These students praised the Co-Op program where families could go and receive help from the community. I thought it was cool that the students recognized that there are some places in Olympia that are not safe but they still praise the place where they live.

Another thing that I found to be interesting was where the kids liked to hangout. The students loved Olympia's Skateland. Skateland seemed like the place to be if you were in middle school. The students talked about going with their friends, spending money on slushies', and just having a good time. It made me smile for two reasons; 1. the students were keeping out of trouble and 2. I remember being a young kid and I used to enjoy the skating rink.

This project made me reminisce on my pre-teen or early teenage years. I loved my group of students that I interviewed because of how intuitive they were about social issues but they were also kids and they like to enjoy themselves.