Montgomery JH expands #BearsDontHate initiative into new school year with Student Heritage studies

Establishing and growing strong campus culture is a task at Montgomery JH that Principal Angie Chapman finds very important. During the 2020-2021 school year, the campus took ownership of the #BearsDontHate motto and this year the campus theme follows that initiative with the slogan, “Together everyone achieves more.”

Throughout the school year, Montgomery JH staff from every department will be coordinating together to teach culture lessons, highlighting the uniqueness of each heritage and how together, we really can achieve more. To start the year, students in grades 6 through 8 have performed a heritage study on their own family’s history and each Social Studies class is dotting a world map to show that representation and answer the question, “Where is MJH from?”

“This is the first application to an entire school year’s worth of Heritage study,” eighth grade Social Studies teacher and Student Council Sponsor Pegi Morgan said. “We started in August with ‘Bears come in all shapes, sizes and abilities’ and after we complete our Culture and Heritage Mapping, each month will highlight one heritage through cross-curricular activities and discussions.”

“Our students learning about their family’s heritage and culture is so important to campus unity,” 7th grade Social Studies teacher Allison Mittag said. “I really enjoy seeing how they take pride in what they learn about their family and understanding that we aren’t really all just ‘from Texas’ or ‘American’. Learning how to own their history and learning about the heritage of their classmates helps them show respect to others.”

In October Hispanic Heritage will be studied through Mrs. Ladd’s Spanish classes creating a Hispanic Wax Museum offering representation from all departments, including historical Hispanic figures from social studies, the arts, literature and more.

“It’s about developing a culture of respect on our entire campus,” 6th grade Social Studies teacher Phyliss Teasdale said. “They are learning that we are all unique and our heritage is the history that creates all of us.”