This past year marked a milestone for Camp Verde Middle School: It became one of 11 Capturing Kids’ Hearts Showcase Schools for the 2015-16 school year, beating out 7,500 other U.S. schools.
To celebrate the accomplishment, on Oct. 4 representatives of the Flippen Group, a professional development organization, walked the CVMS campus to see how its flagship educational program, Capturing Kids’ Hearts, had been put to use. Flippen Group Founder Flip Flippen attended, touring alongside Flippen videographer Sean Murphy, Arizona Flippen representative Chris Layton and CVMS Principal Danny Howe.
“We talk about kids in terms of test scores, which is wrong,” Flippen said, adding that good test scores are simply the end result of a much longer process that begins with making students feel safe, part of a larger community that cares about them. In order for children to achieve at higher levels, Capturing Kids’ Hearts establishes trust and accountability among student
populations, creating a framework of expectations.
According to Flippen, establishing healthy and productive guidelines — as well as agreements for behavior between peers and educators — students of all ages begin to blossom, not only into passionate learners but affectionate, curious individuals who work in concert with one another.
“All of these outputs are a direct result of the correct inputs,” Flippen said. “When you create a sense of community, it’s no longer the teacher’s class alone. It’s everyone’s
classroom. We create families on campus …. We’re creating the opportunities for them to be what they want to be.”
According to Flippen, Capturing Kids’ Hearts is in part an effort to combat an increasing rate of high-stress situations for children. Left unaddressed, such stresses produce individuals that cannot be trusted. In Flippen’s world, there is a direct correlation between providing support systems for under-privileged, emotion`ally vulnerable children and reducing corruption.
Flippen smiled. “We encourage them to love, somewhat recklessly … to have courage.”
When evaluating schools for the Capturing Kids’ Hearts Showcase Schools Awards, Flippen said that representatives of the Flippen Group could tell a lot by what educators prioritized. Asking if the representatives wanted to meet the students meant far more than asking if they wanted to see student test scores. For Flippen, seeing how teachers greeted students warmly as they began class showed more care for student success than bragging about performance metrics.
Howe said that Capturing Kids’ Hearts has had an immense positive impact. He called the course he took to learn the program’s essentials “the best three days” of his educational career.
“Twenty-six years as an educator, and they say, ‘Oh, it’s just another program,’” Howe said. “Capturing Kids’ Hearts isn’t a program — it’s a process.”
Clayton, who recently brought the program into Cottonwwood-Oak Creek School District’s Mountain View Preparatory School, agreed.
“It becomes who we are.”
