LAKEWOOD, Wash. – At the start of a new school year, schools work to prepare students with the tools and skills to be successful. From developing leadership skills to fostering collaboration and easing transitions, CPSD is committed to creating well-rounded, prepared students by implementing the Four Pillars of Student Success at every level.
By emphasizing the development of lifelong learning, collaboration, character and leadership, teachers and staff are giving students the skills to find academic and social success at school this year. Here are a few ways you can see the Four Pillars of Student Success in action in our schools.
Finding a Leader in Me
A rich learning environment includes more than just math and reading. It’s also about building character and showing students how to lead. Those are two of the key tenants of CPSD’s Four Pillars of Student Success and the core of Park Lodge Elementary School’s Leader in Me program.
Leader in Me is a nationwide framework that empowers students and school staff to believe that everyone is a leader. It is based on Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and designed to help students develop leadership and life skills by integrating the principles of the seven habits into their daily routines.
Covey’s seven habits encourage students to manage their emotions, develop and achieve goals, build and maintain positive relationships, and feel and show empathy for others.
Park Lodge implemented Leader in Me during the 2022-23 school year. It is one of just 19 schools in Washington state to adopt the Leader in Me framework and the only school in Pierce County to do so.
“Being a Leader in Me school means we make it a priority to foster student leadership at our school and build a culture of trust among students and staff,” said Park Lodge principal Angela DeShields. “The skills students learn through the program help them thrive in school and beyond.”
Leadership can take many forms, and the Leader in Me program turns students into leaders by fostering their natural strengths. In classrooms at Park Lodge, students find a role that fits them.
Each day, students improve their leadership with different lessons that incorporate the seven habits. For example, earlier this school year, third graders in Liz Collins’ class worked in groups to identify specific areas in the classroom and the ways they can take care of those spaces to support learning. Each student brings their own perspective to the conversations.“Everyone can be a leader in their own way,” Collins said. “It helps students build a really strong classroom community that allows them to learn better every day.”
Building Thinking Classrooms
Math in Nikki Krause’s classroom at Thomas Middle School looks a little different than you’d expect. Instead of students sitting with textbooks open, quietly pondering the value of “x,” it’s loud and active. Students work in groups at white boards, solving problems together and learning from their peers.
It’s a little like scenes from “Oppenheimer” without the tailored suits and chalk dust.
CPSD middle and high school math classrooms are engaging students in math at a new level. Called Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC), this strategy puts students in groups of three to solve increasingly difficult math problems on big boards for everyone to see.
If students are tempted to look at what other groups are doing to solve the problems, they’re encouraged. BTC inspires collaboration and asks students to think critically about math. Instead of lecturing and then asking for answers, teachers are empowering students to solve the problems in their own way.
“We expect everyone to work together and learn together,” said CPSD supervisor of math Michael Vincent. “We believe every student can make this happen.”
Students are randomly assigned to groups in an open way, such as through drawing playing cards. Researchers found that when teachers made group assignments, students tried to figure out the reasons they were put into each group (even if no reasons existed at all). When students know the groups are fully randomized, they act differently and are more active.
By asking students to solve the problems together, they engage more deeply in the concepts and often find an interest in math they didn’t know was there.
Making a Successful Transition
Moving up to high school is a big step. CPSD schools try to make that transition as easy as possible by offering transition events, activities and mentors to help students get comfortable with their new surroundings.
In August, incoming ninth grade students at Clover Park (CPHS) and Lakes got their first taste of the high school experience through the Timberwolf and Lancer Academy events. Led by upper-class student leaders, these events were a chance for new students to make friends, participate in fun team building activities and get a tour of the school.
“I had a hard time transitioning from eighth grade to freshman year, so I wanted to become a mentor as a senior to make a difference for other students who may also be struggling,” Lakes senior Patrick Wells said.
These events are designed to provide incoming ninth graders with connections, tools and strategies to help them succeed in high school.
However, just because the school year has started doesn’t mean that the transitions end.
At Lakes, seniors act as mentors throughout the school year to help ninth graders learn life lessons, get more acclimated with the high school environment and prepare for their next steps.
Some of the mentorship happens in one-on-one settings while others happen weekly in student advisory periods.
“My mentor helped me a lot and whenever I had a question about tutoring, clubs or advice, I knew I could text her,” Lakes sophomore Natalia Souffront-Ramos said. “Having that connection was important because I was shy at first, so the program made me more comfortable asking questions and being open to opportunities like sports and clubs.”
At CPHS, ninth graders participated in the Be R.E.A.L. this fall, which featured assemblies, games and small group discussions led by juniors and seniors at the school. The idea behind the Be R.E.A.L. festivities is to create an environment where students focus on respect, equality of voice, acceptance and love.
Alumni and community partners are also involved to provide their advice, facilitation of events and fun treats for the CPHS students.
“Joining a new school is a daunting task, no matter when it happens. It can be especially difficult for new high school students,” said CPHS principal Rene McCord. “We want to do everything we can to help them successfully become part of the broader school culture, so they are focused and ready to achieve.”
Ironic, is it not, that CPSD chose Park Lodge Elementary to try out “Leader in Me”, a school ranked academically at 7.9 percentile: 92.1% of state elementary schools out perform Park Lodge academically. Park Lodge students meeting state standards for English Language Arts (ELA) stands at 29%, math 21% and science 33% for an average of about 28%. 82% of its students fail to meet state standards.
I double that “Leader in Me” is going to change that trend. It’s hard to lead when you can’t read, write, calculate simple numerical problems or understand the world around you. This is yet another superfluous “Band-aide” which attempts to fix a non-existent problem when solutions to real problems go begging. Perhaps the funds spent on “Leader in Me” could have been better spent on academic programs that work.