Washington and the WMS Sidekicks had their last meeting last week at Woodbridge Elementary School.

Sidekicks is a program at WMS where a selected group of students get the opportunity to leave their school. They were encouraged to take on skills like leadership, social skills, and communication skills by going to elementary schools and teaching students about them.

Francesca Belocura, a WMS 8th grader and part of the Sidekicks program, explained how she got ready for her Sidekicks trip, “Two days before we went, we had to take training, and it wasbasically just we go over the topic and how to properly introduce ourselves, what we do, what we’d say.”

On the other hand, Kai Dowell, a WMS 7th grader, explained that to prepares himself by going over the lesson: “I prepare myself by looking over what I’m about to say and the lesson I’m about to teach the kids, and I prepare by drinking water.”  

Mia Mulluinburg, a Sidekicks veteran, shared her thoughts on how the Sidekicks program benefits the kids and the Sidekicks members, “I think that the Sidekicks was really beneficial, I thought it opened a lot of doors and opportunities with going to the elementary schools, I think it benefited us the sidekicks with getting out and doing stuff and then also the kids learning lessons.”

As with most programs, there will always be challenges. Brielle Nelson, a Peer Leader and Sidekicks member explains the challenging obstacle of dealing with younger students. “The most difficult part was probably getting their attention the first day because they were all over the place.” 

But as there are difficulties, there are rewards. Nelson explains the rewards of working with the kids: “The most rewarding thing was when they appreciated us being there; they liked us being there.” 

Dowell was happy with his experience as a Sidekicks member, he explained.“When we went to the schools for the first time and I got to meet my class that I was talking to and how I got to experience talking with the kids.”  

If you are thinking of joining Sdeckicks next year as a 7th and 8th grader, Nelson says that it’s a very interesting and rewarding experience, “ It was really good, I think it was interesting, to help little kids and learn about their experiences in elementary school. It was a really good time.”