Homerooms help us organize and provide smaller units within our student body. They are each student’s starting place for his or her day, providing an invaluable venue for us to take care of daily tasks such as attendance, lunch count, and giving announcements. We also use homerooms to group students for certain school activities and outings.
Homerooms give the students a sense of identification. Students vote on homeroom names, choose colors, and create a T-shirt design. The homerooms help to provide each student with a sense of belonging to a small group rather than being just one face in a sea of faces.
Homerooms provide ample motivation for the many middle school competitions—which homeroom will win the goofy games in the Friday activity or correctly answer the most trivia questions. More importantly, a homeroom earns an afternoon trip to Miracle Hill for winning the food drive or hangs the coveted “Spirit Stick” in their room after Spirit Week.
On a more serious note, homerooms also provide each middle school student with a teacher who serves as that student’s facilitator through the sometimes troubled waters of middle school. The homeroom teacher provides the loving discipleship and accountability that middle school students often need—checking up on assignments and grades and, when necessary, talking about discipline matters.
Additionally, the homerooms elect officers. These students work with the homeroom teacher to organize the class for activities, plan for events, and assist in completing daily routines. Through these and other efforts, the homerooms provide an opportunity for leadership development.