Success Story
Positive Interactions from the New Middle School Program
Zoe Pilgrim, Eighth-Grade Special Education Teacher
Nathan Eckstein Middle School
Seattle, WA
"The new SECOND STEP program is something that these students need so desperately; I wish that it was an actual required course. I feel it would really benefit everyone, especially before they go on to high school," says Zoe Pilgrim of Nathan Eckstein Middle School, the largest middle school in Washington State.
Pilgrim piloted the program last year with an eighth-grade class that had a lot of behavior issues, what she calls her "rowdiest class." When Pilgrim first started to teach the program, she wasn’t sure how her students would react, but she happily reports: “It was like, Bam! They just totally got so involved…and really engrossed in the content.”
“I had a couple students, male students in particular, say, ‘Gosh, Ms. P., it really helps when you talked about how to calm yourself down. I used that the other day.’ And so they started opening up and telling us how it benefited them. And they weren’t embarrassed by it or anything. It was great.”
Pilgrim says the variety of activities and social issues depicted in the program help teachers learn their students’ thinking processes, which helps with teaching in general. "You get to learn so much more about your students and that helps in all academic areas…their likes and dislikes and personalities…I just think that makes me a better teacher because then I can tailor my curriculum to what they really need," Pilgrim explains.
In regard to the impact on her students, Pilgrim says, "My students' behavior and their interactions with each other just became more positive as the year went on. And they were made aware of bullying…I heard students standing up for certain students in the hall."
Two of Pilgrim’s students from last year, a male and female, came back to visit this year and told her they’re already noticing how the program has benefited them in their first couple of months of high school. Pilgrim's advice to the students was to keep talking to their classmates, their teachers, and their counselors.
Pilgrim says of the new SECOND STEP program: "I think it’s important that the students are given a safe place to talk, that they are given a podium, so to speak, for themselves…These students are becoming young adults. If we can give them the tools and strategies they need to withstand some of the pressures, we’re doing them a service, we’re helping them succeed for the future, for their future and for our society, right? It all trickles down that way."