January has been a “long year,” Lincoln Elementary School Principal Misty Straub joked Wednesday. “We’ve had some long months each day this week.”

Lincoln hosted the monthly luncheon board meeting on Jan. 26, where Straub talked about school improvement efforts. Also presenting was Student and Family Advocate Jose Arias, who was joined by this week’s student ambassadors.

Even if January seemed to drag along, Straub said the school had some highlights.

“We are gearing up for springtime,” she said.

Lincoln, like the rest of the district, uses the Capturing Kids' Hearts model called EXCEL, which stands for Engage, X-plore, Communicate, Empower and Launch. Teachers engage students as they come in the room, engage them in goal setting for the week, and empower the students to complete the assigned task.

The next step in school improvement was to engage students in more leadership activities, Straub said. Arias is in charge of Student Ambassadors, a group that changes weekly so more students have a chance to lead. Even a kindergartner can be nominated as an ambassador. They may be called to help staff with student-oriented tasks.

This week’s ambassadors told the school board some of the qualities of a good ambassador. Kloie Schmitberger said they need to “be patient and be responsible.”

“You must be a leader,” said Jaylan Brown.

Jasper Ryff summed it up by saying, “Be kind, be respectful, behave.”

RISE program

Lincoln Elementary has become the third school in Great Bend to undergo RISE training, Straub told the board of education.

RISE stands for Resilience, Inspire, Self-Empowerment. It is a program that fosters social-emotional learning skills. It provides an alternative to out-of-school suspension and helps students learn to regulate their behavior. Straub described “co-regulation” strategies – a psychological term that describes two people (student and teacher) working together to manage their emotions and behaviors.

One of the strategies is called a flip-flop, where Straub steps in for the teacher, who leaves with the student so they can co-regulate.

“The staff knows, ‘I’ve got your back.’ We support each other in the classroom,” Straub said.

Park and Eisenhower were the first Great Bend schools to go through the RISE training through the Hutchinson-based cooperative ESSDACK. The entire school is involved in the training, from the janitor and office staff to the teachers.