“It’s A Springer Thing”

We had a great start to our school year and part of that has to do with our “It’s A Springer Thing” program that was emphasized in each classroom for the first 3 days of school.  “It’s A Springer Thing” is our attempt to set three important “habitudes” in our students: responsibility, growth mindset, and empathy.  

On Wednesday, teachers led their students through activities that focused on responsibility.  The message was that we are all responsible, or accountable, to ourselves, others and our school/community.  The children brainstormed examples of responsibility and actions that could be construed as irresponsible.  Not surprisingly, students had no trouble coming up with these examples.  We have always had very responsible students!

Thursday the classrooms ran activities and challenges that taught students about growth mindset.  The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset; one where outcomes are viewed as fixed.  When someone says, “I can’t do this”, they are displaying a fixed mindset.  A growth mindset has a person believing that they can get better at ANYTHING through persistence and hard work.  A key fundamental to growth mindset is that failure is okay; that with effort and grit an unsuccessful attempt is a way to learn.  

Today, classrooms emphasized empathy, defined as the ability to feel and understand what others are feeling.   The importance of empathy cannot be understated.  In a community of learners that needs to work together, our students’ ability to understand each other in a very meaningful way is paramount in creating a caring and supporting school environment.

Assemblies today tied all three of these themes together.  Students were told the responsibility, growth mindset, and empathy is what is expected from all of us.  It’s who we are and it’s what we do.  Indeed, it’s a Springer thing.

Of course we want to have our students demonstrate other traits as they learn and grow.  But all the positive life skills, in some way, can be tied in with responsibility, growth mindset, and empathy.  For example, getting to school on time is an act of responsibility.  Not giving up after getting a bad score on a test is an act of growth mindset.  Not gossiping or spreading rumors about someone is an act of empathy.

Posters in classrooms will highlight these traits throughout the year.  Buddy classes, meeting monthly, will work together to build on these ideas.  Positive affirmation certificates will be given to students who get caught “bee-ing” good.  “It’s A Springer Thing” will be the focus throughout the school year.

Whatever you can do at home to model and support these themes is greatly appreciated.  I encourage you to have discussions with your children about these traits.  Have them share with you what they learned and how they plan to demonstrate these traits this year.  

Thank you for a great start of the year.  Enjoy the weekend.

Friendly reminders:

Please do not park in the auction winners’ spots in the parking lot.  Those spots are reserved for all school events for those families who won them at the auction.

Dogs- while we love all of our furry friends, only service dogs are allowed on campus during school hours.