This article appeared in the Clarkston School District Fall 2010 Newsletter.
Heights Students Looking for a Fight
Handling a rumor or playground argument doesn’t require a staff member at Heights Elementary School.
This year, 52 4th through 6th grade students were elected by their classmates to act as playground mediators.
Tom Grunenfelder, Heights P.E. teacher, trains the newly elected mediators each year. He also explains the qualities of a good mediator to classes before they vote.
“Mediators are fair, honest and confidential,” he said. “Students vote on the top 6 or 7 classmates who fit that description.”
Once students have been selected by their peers, they go through an interview process to ensure they want, and can handle, the responsibility. A successful interview is followed by a day-long training.
Student mediators complete a variety of activities during training.
One of these activities was “People Bingo”. Students had to find other students to sign off on a bingo sheet that listed different traits, such as “Loves math class” or “Is wearing red”. During the game, the cafeteria roared with the sound of students laughing and asking questions like “What’s your favorite color?”
Grunenfelder asked students if they were nervous to talk to new people during the game, to which he received many nods.
“If you’re going to be a mediator, you have to talk to a lot of people you don’t know,” he said.
Becky Bennett, the behavior assistant at Heights, advises the student mediators. She also sets up the schedule for mediators, who work as a pair during each recess.
“Students are on shift during recess time, but they could be [asked] to deal with problems at any time during school,” Bennett said. “It’s fun to watch them use their mediation skills, especially the older kids who have been through training more than once.”
A 6th grade mediator who has been chosen as a mediator for the third year will work with the younger mediators the first few weeks.
“Even though we spent the afternoon of training [day] reviewing all the steps in the mediation process, it is nice for the younger ones to have a 6th grade mentor for support,” Bennett said.
Both Bennett and Grunenfelder agreed the program is not only beneficial to Heights, but also to the student mediators.
“I have a lot of kids come back and say the skills they’ve learned as a mediator has helped them [transition] through junior high and high school,” he said.