RESEARCH QUESTION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

When we first thought about an important issue for our school, we identified a few, such as: fighting and bullying among students, kids disliking school and not wanting to come to school, teachers being unhappy at our school and experiencing a burn-out, and our school’s need for constant monitoring of students, even when they need to use a restroom. Looking at all the issues, we identified mental health to be the most prevalent concern. Before we could give a survey to students on mental health, we met and wrote a short description of what mental health is, since we figured the students at our school probably needed a better understanding what mental health. We then presented to our entire school the definition and description of mental health. After that, we designed 2 surveys on mental health – one for teacher and one – for students. We got about 202 responses (out of 366). We had 13 responses from teachers (a little more than 50%). Here are the key findings: Student Survey: Around 25% of students either can’t stand the school or highly dislike it. Around 40% - feel “Ok”. Only 19% of students feel “good” about school and 10% feel “great” about school. We identified 3 top factors contributing to mental health issues: · Interactions with teachers – 45% · Interactions with students (fighting, bullying) – 28% · Academic Work (too much work) –43% When asked what could help students improve their mental health and feel better, we identified 3 themes: 4. Fun activities (sports, field trips, school dance). Field trips got the most votes (around 80%) 5. Building positive relationships with teachers and having a supportive person at school (24% and 16%) Having better access to mental health services should be a priority.

Mifflin Middle School

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How does the quality of student-staff relationships at Trimble High School affect one’s sense of belonging in the Trimble community?

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Understanding the Sense of Belonging of Students and Staff at Trimble High School.

The building of rapport and community among students and staff in schools is essential to the learning environment. Those that have a strong sense of community and solid relationships between students and staff are more likely to see engagement and success in and out of the classroom.

Our research question was how does the quality of student-staff relationships at Trimble High School affect one’s sense of belonging in the Trimble community. By understanding the current level of relationships between students and staff and their sense of belonging, we would be able to discover a correlation between the two. Thus, we could develop a strategy to increase the sense of belonging through improving student-staff relationships at Trimble High School.

Data was collected by sending two surveys out to students and staff at Trimble High School. Anonymous surveys directed toward staff were sent via email while student surveys were distributed via Google Classroom during the students’ PAWS class period. Students were encouraged to complete the surveys promptly by announcing that the first three PAWS classes that completed the survey would receive a pizza party. We received 19 responses from staff and 145 responses from students.

The surveys concluded that staff feel a higher sense of belonging than students and as a result are less involved and engaged in the Trimble community. Students and staff were asked in their surveys to respond with ways in which they believed relationships and community building might improve in the school community. Data displayed that the most preferred ways of doing so would be to 1) develop more school-wide activities that integrate students and teachers together in order to create rapport outside of the classroom and 2) regularly schedule pep rallies and incentive days to boost morale; at least one per quarter.