Buena High School has tried a creative and new community building approach to the 25-26 school year. Social contracts, highly recommended to teachers during a recent training introducing the Capture Kids Hearts program, have become a proactive way to start off the school year becoming a staple for most classrooms. A newer concept for everyone, the social contracts, seem to be positively rated.
Sophomores Ella Ramirez and Krish Santera believe that they have been constructive, useful and regularly used in the classrooms, making students feel equal to teachers as they have all agreed to the same standards.
“I mean, yeah, [for the most part] it reminds people of what [they’re] supposed to do in a classroom setting. So in that way, I guess [the social contracts are useful in classrooms], especially if it’s constantly being [used] as a reminder, ” Santera said.
Academically, the social contracts encourage students to be mindful of their surroundings and to be held to this standard that they have agreed upon, while also serving as a reminder to be kind and respectful to one another in and outside of classrooms.
English department chair and teacher Antoinette Perez also mentions the successes in her classroom due to social contracts helping to keep her classes respectful, and she has observed students positively encouraging one another as a result of their implementation.
“The ‘Capturing Kids’ Hearts’ training we did was one of the most powerful training that we’ve ever done, especially in my 15 years as a teacher.” Perez said. “This is one of the things that has worked really well right off the bat to establish the ground rules for what we all expect of one another, [not only with] behavior, but in the classroom.”
The Capture Kids Hearts program’s introduction of the social contracts was suggested and encouraged by Buena’s principal Dr. Aubrey Asplund. Dr. Asplund feels she has received positive feedback about the social contract implementation and is seeing a positive change in behavior.
“We are having fewer students outside of class. We are having fewer students sent to the office. We are hearing students say that they like it, [and] that they like being a part of creating the classroom rules.” Asplund said.
This positive change is also trickling down from teachers and staff.
“I’m hearing teachers say that their classrooms feel more positive this year, [and students are being ] more respectful,” Asplund said.
The Capture Kids Hearts program’s mission is to decrease bullying, decrease the number of disciplinary reports and increase graduation rates. The program also strives to build community inside and outside of classrooms.
The program overall seems to positively encourage staff to lead by example to create a positive environment for students. That is exactly what is happening on the Buena campus today.
