The Wildcat Way -- Starring Westside Students and Staff!
This year a team of paraprofessionals at Westside Elementary, with the help of teachers and students, took a giant step towards making Westside a school where character comes first! The goal: to improve school climate by promoting character on the playground and in the hallways, lunchroom and other public areas throughout the school. Westside paraprofessionals were the writers and directors, while students and staff became the stars in a series of videos to promote consistent expectations and positive character, which came to be known as the Wildcat Way. First, teachers were the "stars" of the video. Teachers acted out the wrong way to behave in the hallway, playground, and lunchroom. This was followed by students on the video saying "STOP! That is not the Wildcat Way." Next, students became the real "stars" demonstrating how the hallways, lunchroom, and playground look when everyone is following expectations for the Wildcat Way. At the end of these segments, students gathered and cheered for doing THE WILDCAT WAY. After each segment of the video, there is a pause and screen that encourages class discussion and processing. Discussion gave opportunity for staff and students to connect what they saw on the video to the character traits. To further promote the expectations on the video, students and teachers took time to practice the Wildcat Way and posters were put up in hallways, the lunchroom, and on the playground to keep our goals and character expectations visible. Approximately 30 adults and 25 students were involved in the writing and filming of the videos. Meanwhile, other staff made posters and our principal promoted the idea by visiting each classroom. Once the videos were completed, staff embraced the idea and they have been shown and discussed with all 450 students.