High Point middle school builds leadership culture for students

Welborn Academy of Science and Technology is using middle school to do more than cover science, reading and math. At the Guilford County Schools magnet campus on McGuinn Drive in High Point, leaders have built a leadership culture around sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, with the goal of preparing students for high school, work and civic life.

Principal Dr. Kevin Wheat said the school is trying to create opportunities beyond the basics so students understand who they are, learn from leaders and see how they can affect the people around them. That fits a school whose mission stresses academic achievement, responsible decision-making, cultural understanding and respect for self and others, while the district’s choice-program materials highlight accountability, team-relationship building, confidence, empathy and critical thinking.

The work shows up in three programs: the school-wide Welborn Way Leadership program, Men of Distinction for young men and the Ladies of Value and Excellence, or LOVE Club, for girls. Welborn serves grades 6-8 at 1710 McGuinn Drive, and public school profile sites list enrollment at roughly 376 to 407 students, with a student-teacher ratio around 13-to-1 and about 99% of students classified as economically disadvantaged. That makes the school’s focus on belonging and identity especially relevant in a community where many students are navigating more than classroom expectations.

About 25 girls are selected each year for LOVE Club. Eighth grader Journei Smith said she joined because she wanted a mentorship environment that would help young women grow into who they are supposed to be. Founder Deayohnna Smith Jeffieres said many girls arrive shy or timid, but the mentoring model helps them become more engaged and then carry those lessons to others. Meetings are set for the first and third Thursday of each month at 3:45 p.m. in the media center.

Wheat said the effort is already paying off. Students are excited on club days, he said, and they show up early and demonstrate stronger attendance and participation. At Welborn, leadership is not being treated as a side lesson. It is part of the school’s larger strategy to build confidence, attachment to school and a sense of purpose before students ever leave middle school.