HOUSECON - Ron Clark Academy

 WE. ARE. BACK! Our Bethke Elementary educators went to the Ron Clark Academy again this summer. Another group of educators came to experience HOUSECON and the magic was ever so present!

As I sit and reflect this morning, here are some experiences I want to make sure I remember:

1. Get Your Six
Meaning find at least 6 people in your school who can help with the buy in for new ideas to flourish. Well, we have more than 6 now; Bethke Elementary has twenty-two educators who have been to this Ron Clark experience. We began rolling this house system out with our teachers first during the Fall 2022 and this was followed by bringing our 1,300 students onboard in Spring 2023. This summer we learned how to kick it up several notches with MANY ways to bring the houses more alive. Get ready Bethke Elementary our trained educators are on fire to bring these ideas to life and team with each and every staff member on our campus in the process!

2. Importance of School-Wide Meetings
Explain the WHY to our kids in a collaborative and FUN way. Students need training, but they also need to have ideas experienced! How do we get kids to rise to our levels with expectations with academics and behavior? We hold them to a higher standard and have our educators modeling that daily with their actions/communication. Building a community with our educators is HUGE in this process. It starts with the mindsets of those on our campus and moves to our students, as well as their families. Our summer training highlighted ways to bring educators, students, and families into our school to make the magic happen – infusing houses into classroom lessons, 5^th graders as student house leaders, bringing newly registered students into houses, embracing talent in each house, House Olympics, contests with community members as judges, increasing belonging, parents with student buttons, tracking points, consistency with points, fundraising, and oh so much more. So many small details that make such a difference!

3. Building Relationships
Everyone needs to belong. That was showcased repeatedly during the training. Yes, there is research that shows the benefits of this, but the experience of this was oh so present. From the moment you walk into the Ron Clark Academy, you feel the embrace. Houses have the power to unite people in ways to make greatness happen for others not only in your school, but also outside your walls in the community. When alumni students who have graduated high school and college make it a point to come back and volunteer in the school AND mentor current fourth-eighth grade students…well, that is the highest level of giving back to others! Not only have the students found a HOME, but their families have also found a home. We had the pleasure of learning with parents who were leading sessions about how to increase levels of parent commitment, too. How cool to hear information about this from parents’ perspective! So many details were shared during our experiences for staff, student, and family bonding.

We are ready to celebrate who we are and just who we are becoming at Bethke Elementary!