Transcript: Grant Brugger & Colton Gile on Eighth Grade, High School Expectations, and Making an Impact

Good morning, and welcome back to the show. We are here with Grant Brueger and Colton Guile, two eighth graders from our lower school. How are you, Grant Colton? I'm doing pretty good today.

Yeah, I'm doing pretty good too. Great. It's great to have two more eighth graders on the show because, I mean, we love bringing our lower school in. Yeah, for sure.

So let's start getting to know you guys. Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a bit? about how long you've been at U.S. and what you, some of your favorite things to do inside and outside of school. My name is Grant Brueger. I came to U.S. in the start of eighth grade, so I'm pretty new to the school.

I love to play sports outside and inside of school, especially football, basketball, and baseball. And then I'm also doing the Stock Market Challenge in school, too. Cool. Guile, and I joined in eighth grade this year, my first year.

It's very nice. I love it here. And then in school, I like doing the sports. That's kind of out of school, but I play football, basketball, and lacrosse.

And then I also like fishing in my free time. Nice. Now, looking back on kind of your eighth grade experience at the Shaker campus, what have been so far some of those standout moments, grade and us just in general super cool um for me founders day was really cool i thought that was cool they got like all the kids together and did that one big event and overall the whole experience has been very nice all the teachers are really nice and i've had a really great time uh i'd also have to say that founders day was probably my favorite thing we've done uh just being able to see the whole all the groups the whole lowest school middle school and high school come together and participate in this one thing was super cool. And then also the teachers have been super nice helping us with the transition from schools and all the friends who have been super inclusive and everything that's gone on this year.

And what house are you guys in? We're both in Murray House. Okay, so we got two McKinley's and two Murray's here. That's super cool.

You know, eighth grade is a big year because it marks your transition to the upper school. What excites you most about moving to this Honey Valley campus? And is there anything that you kind of, about this change that makes you a little bit nervous? So I'm most excited for all the amenities they have.

They have so much to offer, just like in everything compared to our old school. So I'm really excited for that. I'm a little worried about like the homework and the classes. I'm like, I think eighth grade is a lot.

So I got to be ready for that. I differ, like the opportunities, the clubs, and then also the college help you get all the stuff you get to not only succeed in the upper school and also succeed beyond that in college, work, and all that stuff. But I'm also a little worried about, again, the homework, the transition from the lower school, even though it already feels like a lot. But I'm also glad that I have a group of teachers that will help me throughout this.

Also, coming from the middle school, you guys will be very prepared. Have you guys started doing some of those activities or just started learning more about our upper school campus as you've gone throughout your eighth grade year? I feel like I've tried to do more stuff with the upper school or get involved because I'm already doing the football training. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays after school.

So I'm trying to get that, maybe meet some people on the football team, on the other teams that I know from the upper school. So I'm not like only stuck in this one grade. I can expand once I get here to multiple grades, multiple people in everything I do. So I don't feel like, and in the sport, I don't just hang around that one group of people. team.

And then what I've kind of done was kind of like in school, I feel like they're preparing us a lot, especially in like English class and like all my classes where like they say like what it's going to be like next year. And they talk with teachers at the upper school to like help us get ready for that. And I think that's also kind of cool because it's kind of like they're not just like saying goodbye to us and just letting us go and trying to figure it out. They're helping us like every step of the way.

You guys came up here for your shadow day a couple of months ago. What was your favorite part of that day? My favorite part of that day was probably seeing the, like, seeing kids from all different classes being in one, like, all different grades being in one class and being in, like, and how the upperclassmen treat, how they treat the eighth graders, like, so amazing and how, like, they're so inclusive and they want everybody to learn and do the best they can. When I came up here, I was just surprised how well everybody got along, like he said, between the different grades.

And also, I feel like it's kind of cool how they also did that. They kind of accepted everybody and they met to their special abilities and there were no questions that couldn't really be asked. And they were just open to answering anything. You know, I know 8th Grade has a lot of cool events that you guys are going to have or just already have, such as the DC trip, the Tower Tour, Survival Day, just so many different things. and most of these come towards the end of the year.

Which of them this year are you most looking forward to? I'm looking forward to the D.C. trip because even at my old school, that was something we looked forward to since, like, kindergarten or first grade, and we've always just been looking forward to that. So I'm really excited because I haven't really done any trips with school or anything besides, like, little field trips. So I think it should be really fun going to D.C. with all my friends and learning.

I'm also super excited for the DC trip. I'm also, because you get to see monuments, you get to learn about stuff. And then also I'm excited for more, like, I'm not really sure what Survivor's Day is because it hasn't really been talked about, but I'm excited for more stuff that I can do with my house and with the people in my grade. For students who haven't been to the middle school, What do you think makes it such a special place?

Obviously, we talk about this upper school a lot on our podcast, but what makes middle school so great? Well, I feel like everybody, even on my shadow day that I first came here to look at it, everybody was really inclusive, and they invited me to play with them. They invited me into their friend group or something like that. So it was really cool how everybody has it connected almost.

And then we also have a study hall and an ILT, which is times we can both go talk to our teachers if we have any problems. or anything or any questions so that that's really been helpful to help me learn uh I feel like well on my shadow day on my shadow day it was like as soon as I got there everyone said like everybody who knew my shadow or said hi to me say hi said hi to me and the person I shadowed and they like brought me in they didn't care like they didn't care about anything they just said hi and they were super nice I also feel like no matter like anything, like where you came from, who you are, people at the lower school always include you and they always try to make you feel like special and like you want to do stuff. And then I also feel the extra ILT and study hall have really helped me get used to the workload and homework that I've had to do. You know, looking ahead to high school, I mean, you kind of talked about the sports and how when you get up, you can guide. ingrained yourself into that brotherhood of football. But for both of you guys, you guys play so many different sports.

Are you guys looking forward to high school sports and U.S. high school sports or any other high school activities? I'm really looking forward to sports because that's like that has been my driving. I've loved sports since I could walk and I've played sports since I can walk. So I'm super excited to be a part of competitive sports here in the high school.

I'm also, I've heard a lot about One Love, the One Love Club, and I'm pretty excited to see what that is and see other clubs that I could possibly do. Yeah, I'm excited for football and stuff because the coaches, even this year, they're really like, they're trying to help you get better. They're not just trying to help you get better in the short run. They want to help you in the long run, and they want to help you become the best player you can.

And the program is great from what I've heard and seen. like is there's a club for literally everybody and if there's not a club for you you can go ahead and make your own and I think that's really cool personally because at my old school there wasn't that many clubs so there wasn't like you couldn't get involved really. Do you have any clubs you think you might want to start when you get up here? I don't know any specifically that I want to start but I've been looking at the fishing club and that sounds cool because you can like make your own lures test them and go fishing at breaks. Yeah free block this spring we're going fishing. for sure.

You know, when you guys go to D.C., you guys get to see all these big decisions made for our country, but you guys actually had the chance to influence a pretty big decision in your guys' own city. Can you tell us about how you helped get sidewalks and trails installed in Chagrin Falls? And for the viewers, a little more about that story. So in a class called Global Citizenship, we had to write a letter to an official about a current event that's going on.

And me and Colton both chose to write to the mayor of South Russell, Mayor William Coon, about the safety of the streets, Bell Road specifically, and how we would like to have some kind of sidewalk or bike lane or something, walking path, so that to make the road safer and area safer for kids like us to walk to a friend's houses, walk to school, walk to town even so and then you want to say like sure and then so basically we sent the letters after we wrote them and then we were just hoping to get a response back and like a week or two later we got a letter from the mayor and he talked about how that our letters like it was kind of like a subject that they were kind of thinking about but they weren't really acting so then our letters kind of just like once he saw an issue. We need to put this into play. And it kind of just like helps like spark the fire, like start the fire almost kind of. And it's kind of like started this whole thing because they received a grant.

I think it was like $800,000 for these sidewalks because it's like a real big deal from like everybody. So, and also in the letter, it invited us to a town meeting and we decided to go and we were there. We were surprised because there were like people there, like so many people who were talking about why this these sidewalks would be so important to them because they would they would like their kids to grow up in an area where they can feel safe having them bike to a friend's house bike to school and it's overall like have more like accessibility to even Chagrin Falls near us so yeah that was really cool what do you think you learned from that uh we I feel like I learned that if so if you ask for something and like you don't and you feel like If you ask us something like, somebody wrote about this, Chown Bell wrote about the same issue, and he wrote about this issue two years ago when he was in eighth grade, or a year ago when he was in eighth grade. And then that sparked it.

And then if you feel like you want to do something, always go ahead and do something. Or go ahead and do it, because if somebody might have already had the same idea, into action, into actually into plan. And because of this, they're hopefully thinking, if it all goes through, they're hopefully thinking in two years, there should be a big ribbon cutting ceremony with the sidewalks or something that should be completed. You know, seeing that insight kind of pass into public policymaking and just kind of local government, has that sparked any interest in doing something like that future or no it's just a really cool project that you guys did that helps so many people um for me i feel like it kind of helped me learn kind of this is like kind of on that one too it's like kind of like if you see something wrong in your community you don't have to just sit there and wait for somebody else to do it you can just write one letter and that could change many people's lives like adding sidewalks and allowing them to bike from place to place instead of driving uh i feel like it is i feel like being uh able to experience has definitely sparked a little bit more of an interest than I used previously had.

And I feel like before I was like, I thought about something, doing something like helping the community. I thought I wanted to do something, but I didn't know how. So this project has helped me realize what I can do and how I can help the community. so many more ways. Yeah, that's really cool.

So you made change in your community, but we have an interesting question for you guys. If you could make one change to the middle school, what do you think it would be to kind of make the student experience better? Well, one of the big things in the middle school I know right now that's going to change is we're in pods right now. I mean, it's still a very nice school and stuff, but I feel like having that bigger classroom would like really be helpful because like it's all connected and we don't have to wait to go from, like, class to class, like, traveling outside.

But probably a big thing that I would change is... I don't even know. There's so many great things about it, I can think of one thing that's not. I would probably have changed...

If I had to pick one thing to change, I would probably pick where the gym is, where the locker rooms are. I would... If I could, I would, like, update the gym a little bit, update the locker rooms a little bit, maybe add even a little bit of a weight room, add something so kids who want to don't have to, like, don't necessarily have to come up here to, like, work out with the – work out, do things. They can just stay in the school, work out, and then get picked up from the school because for some people – Most people who live around there, it's way easier to just work out as soon as you're done with school and then get picked up or walk home.

You know, throughout your time at the lower school, you've had the chance to learn from a lot of great teachers and just have a lot of great classes, or through the middle school. You guys have had a lot of time just to see a bunch of classes and see a bunch of teachers. Has there been a particular teacher or class this year that's really standing out to you, and why? The class that I've learned the most in would definitely have to be English.

It is one of the most challenging classes I've ever had, but then it also is one of the funnest classes, one of the most engaging classes because of the way that my English teacher, Mrs. Hamburg, teaches us and how she is so engaged and wants us to learn everything. we can but if the most impactful teacher that I've had is my home room teacher Mr. Pierce he has done he has been there for everything that I needed he's done he's just welcomed me into the US family and community and he's been like he's been super helpful he's been like if you need to do something get this thing done otherwise you can basically you it's you choose what to do and I feel like he's treating us like we're in the high school we're not like we're not fifth graders anymore like we can handle ourself yeah for me the like hardest class would be English because personally before I was not a great writer or English student I just like didn't understand it that well and then when I got here Miss Hamburg she really helped us as the class as a whole because one the stuff is way more difficult but also it's like it was really difficult at first for me But once, like, I started, like, talking to her about it, I realized it wasn't that difficult, and she really helped me, like, get through it, kind of. And, like, I feel like I'm way better now.

And then another teacher that's really stuck out to me was my homeowner teacher, Mr. Wall. He really just helps me stay on top of everything. He's always been there for me with this, like, coming to this new school.

He's helped me with any questions and really anything. get my work done when it needs to be done, and he's like, help me. Overall, just come here. You know, going to that homeroom teacher point that both of you guys had, up here we call them the sponsors, and so you keep your sponsors throughout all four years. Do you like that system of keeping the same sponsor throughout all four years, or do you think we should switch just like the middle school every year?

I feel like they're definitely pros and cons of both. sponsor all four years is really good because you know that sponsor. That sponsor knows you from the day you come to the day you leave. And they get to help you grow. They get to help you grow and watch you grow as a student.

And then also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the same people learn that your sponsor all four years. So I feel like you know those people. like, they're brothers, basically, at the end of your senior year, which I feel like that will, that's really good that you get to know this group of people, like, their family. But then I also feel like if you switch sponsors every year, you get a little less of, like, knowing the sponsor, but you do get to meet a lot more faculty, a lot more people, even. A lot more upperclassmen, a lot more lowest, people younger than you you get to know more people if you switch every year i think um having one would be great because it's like i even after like just a second year a few months in they will learn like your study habits they will learn like everything about you and they'll like know how like just to help you because they know so much about you and i feel like that's really cool instead of like switching where it's like you have to like meet them say like meet them all over again for the four years it's kind of like like kind of like what he said it's kind of like you're almost like your second family because you have all these kids that you've spent so much time with in your sponsor family and then your sponsor who's like helping you through this journey even like from just arriving in freshman year to going off to college and similar concept to the sponsor of the house system i remember when i first came here i just only thought it was from harry potter but it's similar uh what was your guys's first impression of the house system um first i thought it was really cool that it helps us like, or kind of like gets us to interact with maybe kids we don't interact with a lot from other grades and everything.

And it kind of brings like a bunch of kids with different hobbies and stuff. It brings them all together as one to compete for the house cup at the end of the year. So I just think that's really cool. I love the idea of the house system.

And when I first came here, I also thought, wow, Harry Potter, This was a lot like it. And then I was like, and then I'm like, oh, this is super cool. It gives people a chance to one, talk to people who they haven't. It gives a reason for people who are a little different from each other, who have different hobbies to interact and to talk about stuff.

And then it also has a little bit of like competition, a little bit of like rivalries necessary to compete and to beat the house, to be the number one house, to win the house cup. I feel like that level of inclusiveness and like competition is amazing. What has your guys' favorite house competition been so far this year? For me, Founders Day, I feel like that's just like the holy grail of house competitions.

So it's kind of like that, like I said earlier, that was just so fun. It was kind of like we just got to play games with like friends and stuff and we just had a lot of fun. house competition would probably be founders day because it's you get to see so many people from the upper school and the middle school and the lower school but then also the every and then the house assemblies that we have uh they're also super cool because you get to keep up with the house standings you get to have a house competition and then and you get to like come together on one a friday and like just talk about the one unified houses all the houses you know kind of going off the going off the topic of houses colin kind of talked about fishing and like the fishing club here and look at the lower middle school although the shaker campus is already massive this campus almost dwarfs right or uh what the lower campus is looking to the looking to your high school experience how do you plan to use all the 200 acres that we have here um well for me i plan to like do fishing and stuff on that like for science i've heard you get to use that you get like more hands-on because at my old school we kind of just like did computer stuff because we didn't have access to that so i think having the access to all these stuff that we can like hands-on learn like this hands-on learning will really help us into the future uh i feel like this is gonna be like a massive like this the jump between the lower school which is already really big to here will be like insane and then I feel like it's so big that I won't be able to capture it all and fully use it to its full potential. But I also feel like the science, the planetarium, all the space that we have back in the football fields, in the pond where we can fish and canoe and do all that stuff. And then also the fish hatchery.

I feel like that would be really cool to, like, learn how, like, the fish grow and how, like, how they can, how fish and how animals can help the humans, like, thrive and stuff. And you talked about that gap between, you know, the middle school, Shaker Campus, and the upper school. And obviously it's going to be there because they are 15 minutes apart. But do you wish there were more events between the two campuses?

And then if so, what do you think those could look like? I think that maybe a few more could be cool, like maybe socials. Maybe they could even be house socials just to get the kids to be familiar with, like, the younger school kids. And, like, if kids like us have questions about the upper school, they could ask those upper school kids about, like, more about their experience and, like, what they went through because I heard it's, like, different almost for every person and they could just hear, like, another point of view. more interaction between the high school students in the middle in the lower school students would definitely people would definitely benefit that from what colton said asking questions that they need want to ask and just like getting to know the your older students and getting to know the people that you'll be like getting to know the fresh the eighth the new eighth graders getting to know the freshmen getting to know the uh seven getting to know all the people that like they might not have own before because I feel like personally when I came, I'm like, and I came up to Founders Day, I'm like, who, I was a little bit wondering, I was like wondering who all, who are all these people in my house's house.

I feel like if we had more ways to connect with them and more ways to like interact and meet them, I feel like that would definitely benefit. You know, if you could fast forward and kind of give advice to your future senior selves, What would you say? What do you kind of like hope you'll achieve by the time you graduate U.S.? I would probably say something like keep working, keep going.

You will get used to it. Once you get in that, especially for me, once I get in a routine, and once I stick to that routine, and once I know what I'm going to do, I work five times as fast, five times as hard. football practice every day. I knew exactly where I was going to be at what time and what I was going to do. And I was able to knock out work.

I also feel like I would tell myself, keep going, keep pushing for good grades, keep pushing to meet new people, keep pushing to try new things, keep going to get more done and to get the full experience out of the U.S. I would probably, I'd ask myself a few questions. If I could talk to my future self, I'd ask them like how it's been the four years like with school and everything and like I might even be working by then so I'm gonna ask myself about work but um uh really ask myself like what was my experience and if there was any tips or anything that I could tell myself about like just life in general almost that would help me through my high school year. You know finally at university school students are encouraged to find their passions roles.

For each of you, what is your why? This is a question we ask ourselves all the time. What is the thing that really motivates you to work hard, get involved and make the most of your time here? Is there a particular goal, passion or value that really drives you every day?

So I'd have to say my why is most is helping people do more and helping people and myself and everybody around me become the best that they can be, become become who they want to be. I don't necessarily know right now what I want to do in 10 years. I don't really know what I want to do when I leave this place, but I know that I like helping people achieve more. help other people it like helps me do better yeah and also for me my why of coming here was I felt like that I could just learn a lot more here because they have so many different amenities and I could just like learn to my full potential almost like if I wanted to do something here I feel like like learn something I could almost 100% get to that and I thought that if I came here I would just take 100% of like my time here really try to strive to be the best that I can like he said and just really yeah like and also like help people in my community because we like the community service hours here and just like that helps we can use that it kind of like motivates us almost to help in our community even with this letter that we wrote also that kind of like he kind of pushed us forward a little bit and just like started us to like help realize that there's other people in this community that need help and we have tools and stuff that can really help them. Well, Grant Cullen, it has been great having you on the show today.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights, thoughts, just ideas about the middle school. To our listeners, thank you so much for watching and we'll hope you'll join us next Wednesday for the next episode of Late Start Show. Thank you.