What is "POWER" at Willow Creek?

POWER is Willow Creek’s acronym for the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports program. POWER stands for Persistence, Optimism, we are Flexible, Empathy, Resilience. This acronym was created by a team of teachers to reflect a growth mindset, and be a practical and valuable application for lifelong learning and success beyond the classroom.  

Teams have a 10-15 minute designated time of day, called POWER TIME, to teach growth mindset and appropriate school behaviors, and provide students opportunities to learn common language across the school. New curriculum in the area of Social Emotional Learning will be added in school year 2019-2020. We believe that the best way to implement a new philosophy is to embed it deeply into the classroom culture. Willie the Wildcat is a fun visual of our growth mindset. Willie is a superhero with a cape in which the POWER words are written. This is a familiar sight around the building as we have posters in classrooms, hallways and on bulletin boards.  

A monthly POWER TIME video is shown in every classroom that introduces, explains, models, and highlights examples of POWER throughout the building. With the addition of Social Emotional Learning, our goal is to support students and staff academically as well as emotionally. Our goal is to teach a growth mindset and practice appropriate school behaviors to ensure a safe, healthy environment where learning can take place. This philosophy started in school year 2016-2017 and continues to guide us as we begin school year 2019-2020. The POWER TIME videos are a unique and healthy part of the Willow Creek culture and climate. Students and staff look forward to starting their week with a new idea, or a fun example of learning and growing in a happy, healthy, environment of growth mindsets. The videos are shared with parents so that they, too, can join our vision of common language, growth mindsets, appropriate school behaviors, and an emotionally safe learning environment. With the help of an amazing technician, we are able to meet our goal of making a video for EVERY month of the school year!

We continue to grow as a school community where a growth mindset is valued and can be continually applied to new learning, the building of relationships, and a safe learning environment. POWER definitely plays an important role in our academic achievement as well as the overall growth and development of students, staff, and community!