In a nutshell
LCISD’s Innovative School Day provides students of all grade levels the opportunity to learn “Life 101” skills, such as financial, physical and mental wellness and planning; dream home simulations; and career preparedness, district officials said.
“For students, we want ... them to be engaged in activities and lessons that they normally would not be engaged in in the school day to help them think about life outside of high school, outside of LCISD,” Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said at the Sept. 25 Promise to Parents brunch.
How it works
The program looks different on every campus, Terry High School Principal Melissia Smith said. As one of two high schools piloting the program this year, Smith and her administration were tasked ahead of the school year to give teachers more time during the work day.
On Innovative School Days, teachers not leading the program can use this time to plan coursework, call parents and grade assignments—tasks many teachers do after hours or on weekends, Smith said. Meanwhile, students participate in the program during a designated subject period.
Zooming out
The program will give Terry High School teachers back up to 19 days throughout the year for independent instructional planning, in addition to LCISD's scheduled planning days, Smith said.
But these days can’t be at the detriment of student learning, Smith said. With the additional instructional planning time, teachers are tasked with increasing student success and outcomes through innovative coursework.
“Dr. Nivens’ plan was that it benefit both students and teachers and not inconvenience parents. Because for some of our kids, they come to Terry and this might be where they get their hot meal,” she said. “So we didn't want to put our kids in a position where they didn't come to school and they didn't get what they needed because we're trying to give time back to teachers.”
Digging deeper
During one Innovative School Day, career and technical education students "ethically harvested turkeys," said Mallory Guel, assistant principal of career and technical education at Terry High School. In a farm-to-table setting, students were taught how to butcher and pluck turkeys before preparing and barbecuing the meat.
Even the organs were used to educate students about the bird's anatomy, Guel said.
“There was no part of the turkey that was left untouched,” Smith said.
In addition to the Innovative School Days, district leaders also launched Thrive Thursdays, where the whole campus learns a skill during 30 minutes added to one class period once a month, Smith said.
For the CTE students, this has meant preparing for a barbecue cook-off, where teams will create recipes and compete to win the cook-off. For others, this will mean preparing a business model that will be judged by a panel of community leaders in a "Shark Tank"-like setting, officials said.
The backstory
The idea of Innovation School Day spurred from Nivens’ own experiences when, as a college graduate, he said he learned about the various taxes that were withdrawn from his first paycheck.
“In our Innovative School Days, we should be talking to our students about credit scores. We should be talking about investments, mutual funds, healthy living, social-emotional health,” Nivens said. “We should be talking to our students about these things so when they go out and experience life ... they say, ‘Oh, that’s what they were talking about.’”
Looking ahead
As the district continues the program, LCISD is looking for local community partners who can volunteer their time by offering mentorship and information on real-life professions, Smith said.
The program’s efficacy will be measured through student attendance, academic performance and teacher retention data, Nivens said.
“We’re trying to impact student outcomes,” he said.
