Over the past several months, I have shared strategies we have used with our staff to improve our school culture. Over the next several months, I will share strategies that we have used with our students to enhance our school culture. This month, I will share the first set of activities we implemented with our students. My hope is that something I share will spark an idea that you can apply within your own school/district.
- 1-on-1 KPREP Talks
- The guidance counselor, assistant principal, and I divide all of our students amongst the three of us. Once we have our group, we begin to meet one-on-one with each student. We each have different questions we asked students in order to get to know them better; but the main purpose is for us to review each student’s past KPREP score, and then set a goal for the current school year. One question I like to ask students is, “Who is your favorite teacher of all time?” I then send an email to that teacher and share that a student said that he/she was their favorite teacher of all time.
- Annual Dodgeball Tournament
- For our 3rd consecutive year at Muhlenberg South Middle School, we have incorporated a school-wide philanthropy project in which we create funds to support a worthy cause. The project is the Muhlenberg South Middle School Dodgeball Classic. We play this tournament during the school day often the day before a holiday break. The teams have to pay an entry fee for the tournament, while others pay admission to watch the tournament. We also have concessions available, with other activities scheduled during the tournament as well. Some of the projects we have given back to include the Family Resource Youth Service Center (in order to help kids have a better Christmas), student reward activities, and this year we are using the money for our Spring Extreme School Makeover project.
- Lunch Ball
- We incorporated Lunch Ball three years ago. Lunch Ball takes place daily after the students eat lunch. How it works is once the students have finished eating, they are allowed to go the gym to play organized basketball, dodgeball, volleyball, etc. All of these activities are organized and monitored by the Assistant Principal. Basically, our students get at least 10 minutes or so of physical activity after lunch each day. This has also been a good motivational practice for those students who have trouble completing assignments. Our students do not want to miss Lunch Ball. However, if they do not get their assignments completed, they will miss out on lunch ball as the teacher will communicate which students are ineligible to the Assistant Principal.
- Motivational Signs throughout the building and motivational books in In-School Suspension (I.S.S.)
- One of our custodians, Angela Shoemaker, does an outstanding job creating motivational signs in our building. Most of her signs begin in the commons area - just outside of our teacher’s lounge. Many staff and students comment on how much they love the positive quotes and how it lifts their spirits. In our In-School Suspension classroom, we stock our bookshelves with motivation books. Most books are Jon Gordon books, but we also include Significance in Simple Moments by Jon Petz and Sam Parker books, such as Cross the Line and 212°. When students finish their assignments, they are required to begin reading one of these books. We have received some positive comments from students after reading these books.
Next month, I will share even more activities that we have used with students to improve our school culture.