Middletown High Students Throw a Back-to-School Party for Military Families

Photo Captions: Islanders Committed members put together Monday night's event at Middletown High to welcome students from military families. From top left, Anja Sig, Kelise Monteiro, both 15, CJ Wade, 14, and Kaylee Pelletier, 15.

Peter Hall, left, and Ben Currey, both 15, kick around a soccer ball at a Back-to-School party Monday night at Middletown High.

Photo Credit: Margo Sullivan

MIDDLETOWN, RI -- When classes started this morning at the public schools in Middletown, students from military families should have found at least one familiar face in the crowd, said Hannah Gibbison, 16. As Hannah, a junior and member of the Islanders Committed explained it, "military kids are basically like freshmen" because they're just moving here and everything is new to them on the first day of school. True, they typically move around a lot, so they're probably somewhat used to new schools and new faces, but the student group, which is dedicated to helping people live healthy lives and avoid drugs and alcohol, figured a back-to-school party would help the military kids "get off on the right foot," she said.

Nat Currey, 17, a senior at Middletown High, organized the party, which is actually now an annual event.

"We started it last year," he said. Islanders Committed likes to "create fun events" that offer alternatives to using drugs or alcohol.

It's not exactly a club, the students explained.

"It's not a club to join," Hannah said, "it's a lifestyle to keep."

Nat said Islanders Committed is based on John Underwood's book, Life of an Athlete. His ideas focused on healthy living through proper diet and nutrition, sleep, and avoiding drugs and alcohol.

Ben Currey and Peter Hall, both 15 and sophomores, also helped with the event. They were also happy because they both made the soccer team Monday.

"We had tryouts today," said Ben, who is Nat's brother. Although he was on the team last year, he had to try out again, he said.

Ben also said he's "pretty excited" about heading back to school. Peter agreed and said he was glad to see all his friends again.

Ben also said Middletown High is rolling out a new engineering program Project Lead the Way this year. Plus, the high school is also introducing a learning academy, which has been described as a contained group of classrooms.

According to Schools Supt. Rosemarie Kraeger, who spoke to WPRI news, the learning academy for the freshmen is the one thing parents and students might be surprised about.