When the doors to Maple View Middle School and Summit Trail Middle School open this fall, there will be a new program in place to help forge bonds between sixth-grade students and eighth-grade mentors. Called "Where Everyone Belongs," or WEB for short, the effort has been used successfully in other districts to encourage positive culture and climate and to discourage bullying and harassment.

"The No. 1 goal for Maple View Middle School is to make sure all students connect with their school. Each student has to find a place to belong and people they can trust," Cedar River/Maple View Middle School Principal Andy McGrath said. "WEB helps sixth-grade students begin their middle school career by knowing a group of eighth-grade students that they can trust and who will help them find that place where they fit in the school. We believe that before we can get a student to fully buy in 'academically' we need to make sure they feel like they belong and fit in at their school. This program Where Everyone Belongs does just that."

Tahoma/Summit Trail Middle School Principal Sean Cassidy said he's excited to see the program grow at the two middle schools next year.

"It will give a wide range of students an opportunity to be a leader and help support a positive school culture for years to come," Cassidy said. "We believe that every child can be a leader at school, and this is another venue to help kids get involved and improve their community."

Where Everyone Belongs is the middle school version of Link Crew, a model that the high school has used successfully, staff noted. The new program will be led by Katherine Hart and Courtney Staley at Maple View, and by Katrina Alegado and Branda Almli at Summit Trail. The four staff members attended a conference to learn about WEB and how to successfully implement it. In turn, the four staff members will train the eighth-grade students.

"Eighth-graders will be considered leaders and will be helping the sixth-graders feel like they belong and are an important part of the school," Hart said.

The idea behind WEB is to help create a positive experience for students during their first year in middle school, which increases their chances for success. "WEB also acts as an anti-bullying program for your school, by providing it with a cadre of student leaders who look for bullying behavior and stop it," according to the program's website. "WEB gives older students permission to be aware of and report any negative behavior they see, creating a safer school for everybody."

The yearlong program includes an initial session at the beginning of the school year to help establish friendships between the older and younger students, and also follow-up sessions throughout the school year.

"For the sixth-graders, it helps build ownership throughout the year, as well as making them feel more comfortable in a new school," Staley said. "They will see eighth-graders as those they can talk to instead of those who scare them."

Tahoma staff and parents on a Transition Committee selected WEB after looking into several other programs and talking with members of the Culture and Climate Committee.

Students will participate in a number of activities that feel like simple fun and games, but each one is designed intentionally to build connections, Alegado and Almli noted.

"Middle school can be a very difficult transition," Almli said. "Many students (and parents) experience anxiety, worry, loneliness and disconnect."

This program is designed to combat those difficulties and create a powerful, positive support network for students. It's expected that WEB will take about three years to truly take off, because at that point the first class of sixth-grade students will come full circle and serve as eighth-grade mentors.

"The students will love the activities," Alegado said. They will enjoy being mentors and the sixth-graders will feel connected to their group and leaders. They will create a strong bond. They will have fun and they will belong!"

Tahoma's track and field athletes have had a season of breaking school and state records, and both the boys and girls teams took first in the North Puget Sound League championships. Next up: The district meet at French Field in Kent today through Saturday.

While the news media has covered the success of individual members of the team such as Ginny Mehl and the sprinting team made up of the Wilson sisters and Olivia Ribera, Tahoma's true achievement is the creation of a robust program where each athlete is supportive of the whole. That collective mindset is evident at practice, when you can hear the athletes cheering one another on, and at meets.

"That's just the environment of Tahoma track," senior sprinter Tierra Wilson said. "That's just the norm for Tahoma."

That strong bond and support network throughout all sections of the team means it's not just the boys or the girls as stand-alone teams, nor is it the sprinters or the long-distance kids or the throwers by themselves, the seniors said.

"We're all fighting for one goal, so it's easy to rally together," said senior Carter Reeves, who competes in shot-put and discus.

Talking with a group of seniors from the team, they attributed their own individual achievements and those of the program directly to the coaches.

"We have some of the best coaches in the state, and they push us to be the best," said Ginny Mehl, who competes in the shot-put, discus and javelin.

Senior sprinter Colin Marvin added the coaches push their athletes the peak at the right times -- and just far enough to achieve their best without getting injured.

The coaches also help each group of athletes, whether it's a member of their own assigned group or not, and function as therapists and mentors when needed, Wilson said.

Athletes on the team train across disciplines, with the runners doing strength workouts alongside throwers and the throwers training for endurance alongside the runners, she added.

"As a team, we're strong in all events -- we're all the way around," coach Jeff Brady said. "That's what makes us a really good team, and that's a great reflection of our coaching staff. They put in a lot of time working with our kids."

In addition to head coaches Brady and Keith Eager, the coaching team includes Aaron Blake, Henry Brown, Brad Goodrich, Princess Joy Griffey, Anne Hobson, Howie Kellogg, Steven Kent, Tate Latimer and Brian Martinez.

Beyond the coaches, it's the strong desire for the same end result that helps Tahoma maintain its focus and drive, said Kayla Contreras, who competes in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs.

"We all have the same goal in mind, and I think that's really what pushes us," Contreras said.

Coach Keith Eager credited his athletes' success to the work and conditioning that takes place in the off-season, including the summer track club (for information about the club, see the news brief section).

"I think that has really helped. We put in the maximum amount of time with our kids that we can," Eager said. "We put in a lot of time and work into what we do, and we feel like we deserve success."

Talking with the team before a practice this week, Brady encouraged the athletes to follow through with all the "little things" such as getting quality sleep, eating right and stretching. They view the season as a series of stepping stones, Brady says, with each meet and practice leading up to districts, and the final performance at state.

"We're in a nice position, but we need to finish," he said. "It's going to be who's best prepared on that day. It comes down to who is mentally prepared to win."

Awards for the NPSL this season include: Nami Wilson, girls track athlete of the year; Ginny Mehl, girls field athlete of the year; Jeff Brady, girls coach of the year; Bobby Say, boys field athlete of the year, Keith Eager, boys coach of the year.

To read the Tacoma News Tribune's article about Ginny Mehl, click here. 

Or, for their piece on the sprinting team breaking the state record in the 4x100 relay, click here.