Amplifying Student Voice in Baltimore Schools: How BCP Helps Middle School Students Thrive
April 25, 2026
In Baltimore schools and across the country today, elevating student voice is key to driving meaningful learning and preparing young people to thrive in and beyond the classroom. For more than 30 years, the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) has empowered middle school students through student-centered learning, strong school communities, and a focus on academic and social-emotional growth.
At BCP schools, students don’t just learn. They build confidence, discover their strengths, and develop the skills needed for long-term success in high school and beyond.
To see this impact in action, we spoke with three BCP 8th grade students who shared how their BCP experience has shaped them both academically and personally. Each represents a signature program that brings learning to life.
CECE C., 8TH GRADE, HAMPSTEAD HILL ACADEMY (HHA)
- At HHA since Kindergarten
- Attending Baltimore City College in fall of 2026
- Participant, HHA’s Leaders Go Places since 6th grade
- Participant, HHA’s inaugural class for Leaders Getting Ready for 5th grade
- Peer Mediator, HHA
- Cast member, HHA drama and musical productions
- Breathing Ambassador, HHA
- First base and outfield, South Baltimore Little League juniors division (softball)
- Dream job: Early elementary school teacher
I was part of the first group to start Leaders Getting Ready. It is a program that feeds into Leaders Go Places (LGP). There are three qualifications for LPG. You have to have a certain amount of service-learning hours; good behavior, which the school tracks on Class Dojo; and get good grades. For Leaders Getting Ready, it’s behavior and grades, so it prepares you for the LGP qualifications of 6th grade.
LGP prepares you for your future. The field trips are very fun, but more than that, LGP helps you to set goals that prepare you. When LGP requires service learning, grades and behavior, it combines all of the important things of being a well-rounded student and helps you find a way to get where you want to go. The communication skills that we learn in LGP teach us to get everything out and open. That’s been super helpful in softball. It’s cool when I can show my teammates things, but they can show me things. Everyone helps everyone, and everyone gets to be a leader and a follower.
I’ve learned a lot doing service learning. I’ve volunteered at places like Bella Machre for people with disabilities, made educational posters for school, helped with Peer Mediation, and created play mats for the Cool Kids Campaign for kids who are in the hospital. That’s probably my favorite. LGP has shown me different things that I can do to help my community. I’m pretty sure I already have the required Baltimore City Public School 75 hours that you need to graduate high school.
I like to lead by example. There are many opportunities [to lead] at HHA. In an LGP circle [a Restorative Practices community feedback tool], you can acknowledge or apologize to other people, which creates a good environment. It’s important to [learn] that you can still be a good leader even if you make errors. You can be a good leader by bringing others up with you.
LGP has four different levels: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. There are points for each level for grades, service learning, and behavior. If you achieve the levels and do all the things that you need to do, then the reward for that is you get a field trip each quarter. I’m trying to get platinum each quarter for my middle school.
I played baseball but switched to softball last year. I have a lot of HHA friends on the softball team. Baseball is awesome, but it’s fun to play on the team with friends from school.
This year, I am Miss Honey in our performance of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical JR. I have been doing the plays since 4th grade. It’s definitely a unique experience and super bonding. It can be kind of scary to go on stage, but it’s such a good experience with all the other people in the cast. I am interested in doing theatre at City College.
I am a Breathing Ambassador. Each morning, I go to a little kid’s classroom and guide them in mindful breaths. This year I’m doing preschool, and it’s really fun because the kids are very cute.
I am beyond lucky to be at Hampstead Hill. The teachers, staff, and students are amazing. Middle school is definitely a hard social time because you’re not necessarily a little kid, but of course, you’re not a high schooler. It’s an interesting time to learn things about yourself and others. LGP really helps with that because you get to talk to others, learn things with other people, and set goals.
I want to be a teacher and inspire and help people. Teaching children is really important because that leads to any profession ever.
KAYLA A., 8TH GRADE, CITY SPRINGS ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL
- At City Springs since Pre-K
- Peer Mediator since 6th Grade
- Teachers Assistant, City Springs Leadership Academy
- Member, City Springs Girls Middle School Basketball team
- Member, City Springs Flag Football team
- Attending Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School (Mervo) in the fall of 2026
- Dream job: Chef
As a Peer Mediator, if my friends have a little conflict, I can stop it by talking to them and see their side of the story to stop it from becoming a fight. I can also tell a teacher. I haven’t been in a lot of drama or had conflict with anybody. As a Peer Mediator, I am not going to get into that stuff. It has helped me so I can stop being in drama and mind my own business. NOTE: City Springs was the first BCP school to have trained Peer Mediators; today, every BCP school has Peer Mediators.
Being a Peer Mediator has helped me grow as a leader. If I see people arguing or whatever, I try to help them out because they might not listen to a teacher. If they see a kid trying to help them, maybe they will listen to me since I have been at City Springs a long time.
It can be challenging when people’s stories don’t add up. I will ask them questions and try to figure out how to put it together so it can make sense. Sometimes I can mediate off the top of my head and don’t need to read from the paper Mr. Wade gives us. The best part is that after the peer mediation, they hug or shake hands.
I’ve also attended the annual Peer Mediator Summit, which was a lot of fun. [It’s co-hosted by BCP and the University of Maryland School of Law]. I met new people and got to socialize with other people in other schools [BCP and other City Schools]. I’m going to Mervo for high school. I don’t know if there is a peer mediator program there, but if there is, I’d like to do it.
Read about the BCP Peer Mediator Summit.
When our middle school basketball teams lost the championship games this year, I tried to be encouraging. The boys were really sad that they lost, so I just gave all of them a hug and said, “Y’all got next year.”
Every Friday morning, I’m a teacher assistant through the Leadership Academy. Seventh and 8th graders go to different classes. I picked teacher assistant because I know the teachers have a lot of work. I help the 5th grade teacher if the students need help. I am also getting service-learning hours for high school. Being a teacher assistant has taught me that teachers have a lot they handle.
City Springs has prepared me mostly because my teachers have prepared me academically and to see what’s coming up. My favorite things at City Springs are the sports and our great teachers. I feel like I will do well at Mervo. Sports-wise, I might do football, basketball, and track. For the trades, I might do cosmetology or something having to do with food. I want to cook. There’s a lot of conflict in a kitchen. A lot of people have specific jobs and rely on other people, and then people get mad at each other. I think my Peer Mediator skills will help.
RICHARD P., 8th GRADE, PIMLICO ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL (PEMS)
- At PEMS since 5th grade
- Participant, Pimlico/Sinai Middle Grades Health Sciences Program (Medical Detectives) since 6th grade
- Captain, Middle School Boys Basketball team
- Captain, Middle School Track & Field Team
- Crew Member, Pimlico Winter Concert and Black History Month Concert
- Attending Carver Vocational Technical High School in fall
- Dream job: Pediatrician
I was interested in Medical Detectives because I want to be a pediatrician. We had a pediatrician from Sinai Hospital speak to us, and his job just sounded interesting. I like working with kids.
My favorite thing about the Medical Detectives program is the field trips we take to Sinai Hospital. I also like when speakers [from LifeBridge Health and Sinai] come in and talk to the class about their careers. We went to Sinai recently and toured different parts of the hospital. Being part of the Medical Detectives program has helped me with English and expanded my vocabulary.
I love my science classes, all the experiments, and my science teachers. For the science fair, I did a research project where I determined which brand of paper towel soaks up the most amount of water. Scott brand soaks up the most.
Pimlico has helped me grow because it just gives me more experience and opportunities. It’s helped me lead people in the right direction through projects and being team captains. As a captain, you have to make sure your team has the right mindset before a track meet or before a game. I play music and pump them up. We warm up and stretch. And I help them out if they’re making mistakes and keep them focused and on the right track.
I’m going to study nursing at Carver. But I haven’t really thought about where I want to go to college yet. Pimlico has prepared me by showing me how the classes and schedule are going to look and putting me in advanced classes so I’ll be prepared for the work. I want to play basketball and run track at Carver, too.