
How to make middle school students talk about something besides cafeteria food.
Part 1. Each week at our middle school, a small group of 8th-grade students (Voices) leads the whole school in building relationships and building conversation skills. One of their most provocative lessons are called a series we call Synergy. It all started when Voices created an awkward environment in our middle-school cafeteria. We hosted an event called the Synergy Lunch. You may remember the social Petri dish of communication dysfunction from your time as a middle school