The North Ridge Elementary administrative team of Shannon Morrison and Shelbi Eugenis had the opportunity to highlight the successes of Frenship ISD’s campus on a state platform during a session titled “Grow for it” at the Advancing Improvement in Education Conference September 26-27 in San Antonio.
The “Grow for It” session title came from the “Grow for It” student led, growth minded initiative that was implemented at North Ridge in the spring of 2017. The focus of this initiative is to teach students to work in teams and help each other grow academically, personally and more. It includes a competition between grades 3-5 in which teams earn points when academic growth is achieved.
“Students are grouped into teams and track their own growth so it allows them to take ownership of their own learning,” said Morrison, principal at North Ridge. “It makes them accountable and also empowers them.”
The points students earn are displayed throughout the hallways of North Ridge, and each week the team who shows growth is chosen as the weekly winner. The weekly winners receive a trophy called the “Growphy.” At the end of the year, the team who showed the most growth earned the grand prize of a limousine ride to a local steakhouse.
The initiative has been a huge success so far at North Ridge. The success prompted the administrative duo to share the idea with their statewide colleagues.
According to their website The AIE Conference is about inspiring growth and reigniting a passion for increasing student outcomes. It is about envisioning extraordinary possibilities, taking courageous actions, and being our best selves to motivate and create expectations for continuous improvement.
The call to action is to recommit to leading, teaching, learning, and excelling to create positive change that addresses the needs of all children.
