“It’s not ‘How smart ARE you’?, it’s ‘HOW are you smart?'”
By Andrea Moore, TigerPath Coordinator
This is the philosophy behind Hutchinson Public School’s TigerPath program. We know that a “one-size-fits-all” educational system does not serve students or society in the most productive way because every student has a unique set of abilities, gifts, and interests. Hutchinson’s TigerPath program is a partnership between the school system, Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce, Hutchinson Economic Development Authority, Ridgewater College, Southwest Initiative Foundation, and dozens of local businesses and organizations, designed to provide more opportunities and better educational outcomes for our youth. In short, TigerPath helps to answer the question we’ve all been asked, “What do you want to be or do when you grow up?”
The concept of TigerPath has been around since at least 2014 in Hutchinson, but really came to fruition with the 2018 renovation of the high school, and the subsequent hiring of a full-time TigerPath Coordinator. The funding for the TigerPath Coordinator position was largely provided through the Youth Skills Training Grant from the MN Department of Labor and Industry, and this has been crucial to the success of the program.
The four TigerPath Academies, condensed from the Minnesota Department of Education’s 6 Career Fields, are as follows: STREAM, SCI-HI, Business, and Human Services. Each TigerPath Academy has a set of recommended classes designed to prepare students for further education and/or future careers within that general area of study. Any of the academies can lead a student to a 2-year school, 4-year school, graduate school, a military career, or even direct employment into the workforce. Students have flexibility to “try on” different academy options and to switch academies if they wish.
Along with the wonderful opportunities that happen WITHIN the walls of our schools, we are able to provide additional opportunities for students OUTSIDE the walls of our schools. As one of our long-time counselors said, “Since the creation of TigerPath, career exploration is so much more of a COMMUNITY conversation.” We are able to offer students access to career fairs, job shadows, internships, quality tours, industry recognized credentials, and career mentoring opportunities, all because of our talented educators and our supportive community partners.
Parents, of course, can help their students in this career exploration endeavor. Watch and observe what energizes your child, praise them when they exhibit a skill that you know will benefit them in their personal or professional adult lives, share your own career path with them, and encourage them to make an appointment with TigerPath Coordinator to talk about their interests and possibly set up a job shadowing opportunity.
Many visitors to our school have commented on the amazing level of collaboration within our community and the obvious benefits that it has for our students. We are incredibly grateful for that collaboration, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for our students and our community!
If you have any questions about our program, please feel free to contact Andrea Moore, TigerPath Coordinator, at [email protected] or 320-234-2658. Our website is www.hutchtigerpath.com
Congratulations Carter Johnson & Carter Verhasselt!
Congratulations Cassandra Day & Max Martin!
Cultivating a Growth Mindset in Kids: Strategies for Success and Resilience
By Jessica Bouta, Licensed School Counselor, West Elementary
The beginning of a new calendar year can be an exciting time, when we often reflect and set attainable goals for the coming year. Talking with your child about their goals and aspirations can help provide them with direction, motivation, and purpose.
Of course, challenges, setbacks and obstacles are inevitable. Helping children develop a growth mindset, a belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and perseverance, can help. Caregivers can empower their children to embrace these challenges, learn from mistakes, and unlock their full potential.
The following list of strategies can help develop a growth mindset to build resilience and overcome challenging situations:
1. Emphasize the Power of ‘Yet’
Introduce the concept of “yet” as a powerful word that signifies growth and potential. When children say, “I can’t do it,” encourage them to add “yet” to the end of the sentence, shifting their mindset to a growth-oriented perspective. Teach them that with effort and practice, they can achieve their goals and master new skills.
2. Praise Effort, Progress, and Strategies
Focus on praising children’s efforts, progress, and strategies rather than innate abilities. Recognize their hard work, dedication, and resilience in the face of challenges. By highlighting their progress and growth over time, you reinforce the belief that dedication and perseverance lead to improvement and success.
3. Encourage Risk-taking and Exploration
Create a supportive environment where children feel comfortable taking risks, making mistakes, and exploring new ideas. By embracing challenges and setbacks as learning opportunities, children develop resilience, problem-solving skills, and a passion for continuous improvement.
4. Teach the Science of the Brain
Introduce children to the science of the brain. Explain that with effort, practice, and perseverance, they can strengthen neural connections, develop new skills, and enhance their abilities over time.
5. Foster a Growth Mindset Environment
Create a growth mindset environment that promotes curiosity and exploration. Provide children with opportunities to collaborate, share ideas, and learn from their peers. Celebrate their progress and efforts, creating a supportive and encouraging atmosphere where they feel empowered to take risks, make mistakes, and grow.
6. Model a Growth Mindset
As role models, parents, educators, and caregivers play a crucial role in modeling a growth mindset for children. Demonstrate resilience, perseverance, and a passion for learning through your actions, attitudes, and behaviors. Share stories of your own challenges, setbacks, and successes, highlighting the importance of effort, determination, and continuous learning.
7. Encourage Reflective Practices
Encourage children to engage in reflective practices, self-assessment, and goal-setting. Teach them to reflect on their strengths, areas for improvement, and develop actionable goals and strategies to achieve them. By fostering self-awareness and accountability, children take ownership of their learning and growth journey.
Cultivating a growth mindset in children is essential for fostering resilience, motivation, and a passion for learning. As we embark on a new year filled with so many possibilities, remember that nurturing a growth mindset is a lifelong journey that requires patience, encouragement, and continuous support to help children reach their goals and thrive in today’s ever-changing world.
Congratulations Lukas Heilman & Hannah Wigern!
Congratulations Breanna Stansbury & Kaden Butler!
Understanding and Navigating Standards Based Grading
By Erin Knudtson, Board of Education and Michael Scott, Director of Teaching and Learning
Standards based grading (SBG) is a grading system that measures students’ progress towards mastery of specific learning goals. These goals or standards are developed at the state level. Our district has been working hard over the past several years to align our educational goals and instruction with those of the state standards, and to develop consistent and reliable ways to measure achievement of those goals. Change is always hard, and this is a newer concept for our community, so we want to explain why SBG is important and how this is being done in our schools.
Most of us experienced traditional grading while attending school, where items such as assignments, tests, and quizzes were averaged together to compute a letter grade. Factors such as how much an assignment was worth, extra credit, and student behavior were weighed in the academic grade, and all could affect the final grade. More recently, our district has worked as an educational system to analyze how we reach a final course grade and what students need to demonstrate to achieve proficiency on state standards.
In a standards-based grading system, there is focus on learning specific goals with grades more clearly addressing each of the state standards. Grades are based on the most recent evidence of learning. A primary component of standards-based practices is to allow students who may have not performed proficiency the first time to continue learning and reassess to work towards proficiency. SBG is a means of assessing student work based on clearly defined criteria and using specific course rubrics to show that a student has reached proficiency on that standard. It uses processes as a path to critical thinking and understanding, develops meaningful assessments with timely feedback as practice for improvement (not penalty). Students are required to be self-reflective and self-aware, take ownership of their learning, with grades awarded based on level of achievement that students accomplish over the duration of the course.
SBG can look different across each of our district sites. At our elementary schools, a student who demonstrates proficiency may get a grade of “Meets Standard,” while those still working on standards receive grades of “Partially meets standard” or “Does not meet standard.” At the secondary level, a student’s ability to meet standards translates to a traditional letter grade, and our teachers are working to be clear that assessments measure standards.
Obviously, lower scores can provoke anxiety for students and parents, but the intent of SBG is to identify what or how much of a concept a student understands. Retakes for standards that were not well understood or mastered are allowed. The goal is to improve and work towards mastery. SBG was not meant to keep students from obtaining good grades. It is meant to match the earned grade with what the student has mastered. Colleges still require traditional letter grades and transcripts for acceptance, so our high school is working hard on ensuring that the points earned correspond to a fair grade.
In conclusion, SBG holds students accountable for learning standards developed by the state and more adequately and appropriately correlates what a student has mastered to their grades. Our students report cards and transcripts should reflect what students have learned. Hutchinson School District strives for academic excellence utilizing this system as a means of truly preparing students for life and learning beyond our district.