Gotha Middle Grizzlies to rock the school

Friday, Sept. 27, is going to be a rockin’ day at Gotha Middle School. The school was selected to be the 2024 Orange County Public Schools representative and host school for Rock Your School.

Get Your Teach On is a national program, and conferences are held each summer to empower teachers “to be bigger and brighter” and provide free resources to enhance education. It culminates with a one-week Rock Your School event that starts in Los Angeles and moves across the country, celebrating at host schools along the way until it final stop in Florida. Gotha Middle was chosen as the East Coast representative and is the first OCPS middle school chosen, Principal Monica Emery said.

OCPS even has its own Rock Your School theme: Amp Up Education.

GYTO representatives will be at Gotha Middle to host a rally that also will celebrate the school’s 30th anniversary and that the school was just two points shy of an “A” grade.

“That’s going to be the focus of our celebration,” Emery said.

GYTO will have a deejay, and students will participate in competitions through their Cambridge learner attribute groups: Confident, Responsible, Reflective, Innovative and Engaged.

“They have themes, they have challenges, they award points based on participation, there will be kids vs. staff,” Emery said. “There will be a local celebrity here too to cheer on the teachers and the kids.”

Helping plan the rally is the school’s Shenanigan Squad, which is a group of teachers and staff who go above and beyond in creating fun at the school.

The initiative was started five years ago to encourage teachers and schools to create an educational experience by doing something different for their students to celebrate the little things.

Last year, more than 100,000 educators participated in the weeklong Rock Your School.

The events are filmed and shared on social media, including GYTO’s YouTube channel.

Gotha Middle has a history of celebrating its students through music. One annual tradition is to create a musical montage and video; the entire school — students and staff — participates. A camera operator meanders throughout the entire campus, with everyone lining the sides, carrying signs, wearing costumes and fun accessories, and singing along.