Cardinal Middle School Launches House Points Program
posted December 30, 2020
Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Wapello, McHaffey, Rock Island, and American Gothic?
Those last four are part of six houses created for Cardinal Middle School students for a new house points program. Fans of Harry Potter or those familiar with England’s house systems will find it rather familiar.
This year, Cardinal middle school students were welcomed to one of six houses: Chiefs, American Gothic, Soap Creek, Wapello, McHaffey, or Rock Island — all named for people from the area or a nearby place of interest.
“Trying to foster a positive school culture and connection is really important for middle school,” explains Cindy Green, middle school principal.
The house program motivates students to work together and participate in the classroom — it’s especially important for those that are not involved in extracurriculars or sports.
“Kids not in activities can still contribute this way,” Green says.
Students’ houses act as their homeroom with their home teacher becoming their house leader. The students in each house must work together to earn more points than other houses to win a prize.
Houses have the opportunity to win a prize every three weeks. Prizes could be anything from a pizza party to popcorn or Rice Krispies. Points are earned for behavior, spirit, academics, and completing challenges.
While there are fun challenges like trivia, students are also challenged through the Exact Path Progress mathematics program. The program creates a “learning path” for each student based on areas they need help. It attempts to fill knowledge gaps through activities, quizzes, and tests. To encourage the use of Exact Path, students can earn points for their house by spending 60 minutes in the program.
Middle school teacher and House of Rock Island lead, Ashlyn Thompson, says recently everyone in her house met that 60-minute goal.
“My students earn the most points through the Exact Path challenge,” Thompson says. “They are motivated to complete Exact Path challenges and to participate in different activities (trivia, dress-up days, etc.) than ever before!”
Thompson’s student Cayden Courtney shares that Exact Path is a favorite way to earn points in class.
“I think I’ve earned about 100 points,” Courtney says. “[I’m going to"> keep doing Exact Path and the challenges [to earn more">.”
In addition to motivating students to improve their academic performance and behavior, the house program has also created a sense of community.
“My favorite part has been seeing how classes of kids have come together to work towards a common goal,” Thompson says. “I also love the relationships it's helped me build with my students.”
The community feeling extends beyond the classroom thanks to the houses combining homerooms of different grade levels. In Thompson’s case, her 7th graders get to work with 5th graders, and her students enjoy it.
Thompson’s, Courtney’s, and the rest of Rock Island’s hard work paid off at the end of the semester when their house came in second place.
“This is a huge improvement for my house,” Thompson shares. “We were consistently in last place for the first five to six weeks, and managed to really turn it around right at the end of the semester.”
Nothing motivates middle schoolers quite like friendly competition and pizza! We are excited to see how the program continues to build community and improve academics in 2021.
