March 20th marked an exciting celebration of character at McConnellsville Elementary School. That afternoon marked the school’s monthly Capturing Kids’ Hearts character education assembly, which recognizes students who embody or have made significant progress toward that month’s featured emphasis as defined by the Capturing Kids’ Hearts curriculum.
Rightfully, much of the attention was focused toward the front of the room. Amongst their peers sat a group of 20 deserving students who demonstrated the month’s featured trait: Courage. Among the honored students were: Violet Warner, Madison Carpenter, Blake Burdick, Madelyn Jamison, Liam Drake, Trent Crawford, Jayce Relyea, Benjamin Montague, Kyler Burdick, Blake Short, Andrew Brinck, Aurora Fancher, Joseph Dote, MadyLynn Cromp, Mercedes Zahas, Kyra Keyte, Lukas Presky, Levi Carey, and Adilyn Daily.
In addition, there was a brief performance from Miss Barber’s fourth grade class, and Barber was recognized as the “Adult of the Month” in recognition of her recent efforts. McKie the Bobcat, the traveling exceptional staff award, was given to art teacher Desiree Lis by Erica Wimberly for her kindness and efforts in supporting an inclusive learning environment.
The spotlight was also on an important spectator in the back of the room who lent a unique flair to the occasion. Amidst the customary gathering of family and friends sat Leigh Ann Lewis, who joined the festivities all the way from Dallas, Texas. Lewis has been a leadership strategist with Capturing Kids' Hearts for over a year, and has utilized the process in her own schools and classrooms since 1995.
Lewis was visiting McConnellsville to evaluate how the school has implemented and embraced the CKH curriculum, which is a year-round character development process that seeks to optimize the culture and climate of a school by challenging each student to be the best they can be. McConnellsville has been involved with the program for the last three years, and has actively engaged in it for the past two school years in association with a larger adoption around the district.
The visit marked an important occasion called a traction visit. A CKH traction visit is a site visit that marks the final major milestone in determining a school’s fitness to become a Capturing Kids’ Hearts National Showcase School. A National Showcase School is a school that is deemed to be of the highest quality in supporting students through the CKH curriculum.
“On these visits, you want to see kids supporting each other and kids that are empowered to lead,” Lewis said.
During the visit, Lewis met with principal Heidi Allen to discuss school community feedback surveys about the climate and culture of McConnellsville Elementary School, along with potential next steps in the process. Lewis visited eight classrooms to observe, spoke with students, teachers, and parents, and attended the assembly that afternoon.
To Lewis, a lot stood out about McConnellsville in a short time. She was thrilled with the welcoming learning environment she encountered.
“You can just see that the kids love being here,” Lewis said. “The teachers are making learning fun for the kids, and we love seeing the process be implemented. Kids are holding each other accountable and living up to the social contracts they’ve built in their classrooms. I have been around the country and McConnellsville is certainly up top. They are really living the process. Mrs. Allen is clearly modeling the right behaviors, leading her teachers, and it’s evident throughout the building.”
After some final meetings, the National Showcase Schools are expected to be announced in a few months’ time. In the meantime, the school is now focused on perseverance for the month of April. As with that trait, if the school community works hard and keeps trying, good things may be around the corner.