- Captain Elementary School
- Overview
Fist Bumps and High-Fives Abound for Captain Students
Fist bumps and high-fives have become the new norm on Friday mornings at Captain Elementary. Thanks to a character education-based community collaboration, students have a lesson on one of the five brain-growing stances - optimism, empathy, flexibility, persistence and resilience - before they even walk through the school doors.
Fist Bump Fridays are part of a new initiative at Captain this school year to help students get to know the school’s many community partners - from police officers to local librarians - and how the five stances play a role in their day-to-day work.
“We’ve really been working to build our character education program,” said Captain Counselor Crystal Taylor. “We wanted to develop a component of the program that would be fun for the students while also bringing in the community. The more you can involve your parents and community partners, the stronger your character education program will be.”
After a few staff brainstorming sessions, Fist Bump Fridays were born. Every Friday at 8:20 a.m., students line up on the playground. Before entering the building, they hear from one of the school’s community partners about their job and how one of the five stances plays a key role in their work.
“Our intended purpose, besides having a little fun on Friday mornings, is to help bring the core values we are teaching our students to life by showing that these five stances really are used in many areas of life,” added Taylor. “We also want to help members of the larger community become aware and have a chance to be supportive and actively involved in our character building initiatives.”
After the brief presentation, members from the community organization, which have included the Clayton Fire and Police Departments, local veterans, the Girl Scouts and District administrators, stand at each building entrance to give fist bumps, high-fives, waves and smiles to students as they enter the building.
Students then head to their classrooms like any other day, ready to start learning at 8:40 a.m. But according to Taylor, the Fist Bump Fridays seem to have an energizing effect on students.
“The time commitment for our community partners is short, but it’s a powerful 20 minutes for our students.”