(ROCKWALL, TX – May 23, 2015) With STAAR testing behind them and the end of the school year close in sight, Pullen Elementary faculty is raising the roof. Or at least, climbing on top of it.
Pullen Principal JaNeice Rainey made a deal with her 4th grade students this year: if they scored higher than last year’s 4th graders on the STAAR writing test, she would climb up on the school’s roof.
“There were lots of students who were nervous about the test,” Rainey said. “They weren’t sure if they would be successful. I shared with them that heights was one of my fears.”
Rainey told her students that while she couldn’t take the STAAR test with them for the four allotted hours, she would face her fear of heights by staying on the roof for four hours if they could meet this challenge.
Fourth grade teacher Chelsea Worrell said Rainey’s deal helped motivate the students to achieve better scores.
“We asked her to talk to the 4th graders before the STAAR test to encourage them,” Worrell said. “She gave them each a little Nerds [candy] box and said ‘from now on, Nerds stands for never ever raise doubt.”
It was then that the challenge was born. Worrell said that Rainey’s encouragement tactics were much needed in the face of a tough test.
“Motivation was needed,” Worrell said. “There has definitely been increased rigor over the past few years.”
Rainey said there were two things she ultimately hoped the students would take away from the experience.
“They have everything within them to be successful, and if they face their fears head on they can overcome them,” Rainey said. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do alongside them to make sure they are successful because I believe in them.”
Worrell said that this is Rainey’s first year as a principal at Pullen, and she has already shown her dedication to her students.
“She’s done a great job fitting right in and earning the staff and students’ trust,” Worrell said.
As for next year, Worrell says she hopes Rainey’s 4th grade challenge will become a Pullen tradition.
Story by Julie Anne White, Blue Ribbon News reporter (and former Pullen Elementary student!) Photos by Julie Anne White and Tara Cahill.
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