Champions of Belonging: Inside Swain County Middle School’s Student Resilience Team
By Program Manager: Leslie Blaich
The transition from elementary to middle school is commonly considered one of the most significant in a K-12 student’s life. Swain County Middle School, located in Bryson City, Western North Carolina, is providing a new opportunity for students to take an active leadership role through the Student Resilience Team. The creation of this team, centered on honoring middle schoolers’ perspectives on the middle school experience, was developed through Swain Middle’s dedication to a two-year partnership with the NC Center for Resilience & Learning.
Since January, members of the SMS Student Resilience Team (SRT) have engaged in:
- individual reflections,
- group activities,
- discussions, and
- feedback-gathering between meetings.
During meetings, the team has worked together to identify what makes Swain County Middle School unique and to organize around ways to support rising sixth graders as they prepare to transition from elementary school.
The team’s primary project this semester has been creating a video for rising sixth graders. The video is meant to introduce new students (and their families) to important aspects of SMS, ones that may be somewhat similar or vastly different from elementary school and highly relevant either way. It highlights school traditions, academics, extracurricular opportunities, and daily procedures, and offers encouraging perspectives from current students who remember what it felt like to be starting middle school. By providing incoming students with a friendly and authentic glimpse into life at SMS, the team hopes to start nurturing a sense of belonging from day one.
In addition to this early work, the Student Resilience Team is already brainstorming several future initiatives designed to strengthen connections across the school community. One goal is for SRT members to help lead Maroon Meetings, the school’s weekly Monday morning meeting, where the entire school community gathers in the gym for announcements and activities. Through their representational leadership in these meetings, team members hope to encourage increased positive student participation across all grade levels.
The SRT, in partnership with the staff Resilience Team, is also motivated to explore developing a peer mentoring program that would connect older students with younger students for encouragement and guidance throughout the school year. The program would allow student mentors to help younger peers navigate the transition to middle school, including the challenges of academic demands and social dynamics.
By building positive peer relationships across grade levels, the SRT hopes to create lasting connections that strengthen the entire school community.
The current and future work of the Student Resilience Team reflects Swain County Middle School’s commitment to honoring student voice, cultivating belonging, and centering practices that build resilience school-wide. Grounded in the belief that students are the true experts on their own middle school experiences, the SRT provides a vital space for them to connect with peers, teachers, and administrators. Through intentional guidance, team members gain the practical leadership skills needed to support their classmates and foster a more welcoming school environment. The NC Center for Resilience & Learning is incredibly grateful for and inspired by the collective dedication of both the staff and student Resilience Teams at Swain County Middle School.