Middle Schoolers Learn Emotional Lessons from Feats of Strength

When presenters at the Walnut Valley Unified School District's spring Imagine Conference crashed into and split a two-by-four, the 90 middle school students in attendance were impressed.

But the feat was more than a display of physical strength.

The twice-annual conference, organized by teacher Marla Rickard, brings together 30 students from each of the district's middle schools to learn life lessons and build a community of support as the students prepare for their entry to high school.

And as the students are gearing up for that transition, they face a lot of challenges, Assistant Superintendent Nancy Hogg said during Wednesday night's school board meeting.

At the conference, each of those challenges were shouted by students to the presenters, who wrote down each item on the two-by-four — things like "Failure," "Money," "Abuse," "Stereotypes" — before breaking it in half.

"It showed that you shouldn't have anything keeping you from your goals," South Pointe student Stephanie Alvarez said.

Alvarez said that some of her peers lack self-confidence, but the conference and hearing about the challenges of other students was a big help for her.

"This boosted my confidence 10 times," Alvarez said, "and you get to see that you're not the only one out there."

Rickard said she is pleased to work with 30 students from , Suzanne, and , but that the 90-member conference ultimately reaches more throughout the district when students bring back lessons from the event to their peers.

"This isn't just 30 lives on that campus changing, but the impact grows exponentially," Rickard said.

Rickard said the twice-annual conference is funded by the district's non-profit fundraising organization, the Walnut Valley Educational Foundation.