A Handbook for New Students

Last year I found a way to combine my students' eagerness to offer advice to other students with the skills other classes were gaining in word processing and desktop publishing. My writing students participated in a successful collaborative project with the word processing class to produce a special handbook for new or transfer students that included what our students called "stuff kids really need to know." This meant "stuff" like what to keep in your locker and what to leave with the secretaries in the office, the secretaries' names, how to meet students in school, what students in Mills wear to school, our strict enforcement of the "no hat" rule, which lunches are really good, where to go for lunch if not eating at school, where to look for jobs, and so on.

Both classes began the exercise by looking at the current student handbook and discussing its topics and setup. We then brainstormed topics for the new student handbook and decided which would be appropriate. Some of my students also interviewed the school counselor and recent transfer students for possible topics.

Next the writing students broke into groups, divided the topics, and wrote the text for the handbook. After the topics were proofread and retyped, we sent them to word processing students for reactions and additional information. My students then made necessary changes.

When the draft was ready, the word processing students designed the actual handbook. They included other information like maps of the community and the school-including teachers' names and room numbers. When they were completed with the rough copy, my students proofread it again for errors. Then the word processing students produced the final handbook.

I know the students enjoyed this activity because it served an immediate purpose, and they had the opportunity to say what they felt was truly important to them in the school and the community. The counselor now gives a copy of the NYMHS Handbook for New Students to every seventh grader and all transfer students.

Kathleen A. Dorholt and Larry D. Hodgson
New York Mills High School, New York Mills, Minnesota

This article originally appeared in the September 1988 issue of Notes Plus.