Football and School Improvement

school improvement bowl

CIU 20 hosted a Super "School Improvement" Bowl on January 21, 2009. We wanted a new way to engage our instructional leaders in the work of continuous improvement. Believe it or not, football became our inspiration...

"Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." Vince Lombardi

“If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.” Bud Wilkinson

"Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear." John Maddensub

In between bites of a Super Bowl lunch of six-foot subs, wings, and meatball sandwiches, School Improvement teams looked for ways for to connect lessons from football to school improvement. Here are a few:

  • Every team needs a play book (school improvement plan)
  • Teams win by moving in strategic ways and moving in the same direction
  • Players improve their skills through repetition and modeling.
  • Leaders can't coach a game from the locker room, you have to be on the field.

Help us come up with other lessons from football.........

Pictured above: Maryellen Mross, Principal, Stroudsburg Junior High, Stroudsburg School District and Carole Geary, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Pleasant Valley School District.

Comments

dbittner said…
I thought you were all very brave to attempt a football connection to the topic of school improvement, mostly because none of you seemed to be "expert" in the sport of football. However, I was amazed by the various connections you were able to come up with and what a great workshop you were all able to design! Cudos to you ladies for taking the risk and having such a successful outcome!
February 14, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Amaal said…
It was one of the most interesting trainings that I have ever done. It truly was outside the box and it was a success. I too didn't realize the numeber of connections could be made between football and school improvement.
February 24, 2009 at 8:17 PM
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