Iredell-Statesville Schools School & Family Magazine December 2016 | Page 24

North Iredell High School Capturing Kids’ Hearts North Iredell High School is engaged in “Capturing Kids’ Hearts,” a program that focuses on a set of common practices for getting to know our students and their needs on a personal level. We are also working to develop self-managed classes where students take responsibility for ensuring that classes operate in a respectful manner. A “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” classroom is based on a social contract that is developed with very specific questions in mind. Then, this contract is agreed upon and signed by the teacher and students at the beginning of each semester. All teachers participated in two days of training at the beginning of the school year, wherein we gained first-hand experience in the positive benefits of getting to know each other better, as well as the positives of building supportive relationships within our school. The training was conducted by the Flippen group and is based on the philosophy of the founder, Flip Flippen – “If you have a child’s heart… you have a child’s mind.” Teachers at NIHS have taken on the challenge to change three behaviors that could be sending negative messages to our students; these are multi-tasking, rapid walking, and sarcasm. We are trying to slow down, give students—and each other—our full attention, and be direct and deliberate with our words in order to show students we care about them. Teachers have commented that this is the best start to a school year that they have had in years. 22 Iredell-Statesville School & Family