Ibraham Elementary School is empowering students and building culture through their Community Teams program with the help of generous financial support from Oak Grove Moravian Church.
The Community Teams program was introduced by Principal N-Kenga Reich last year and draws inspiration from the True Colors personality profiling system. True Colors places people into four categories of personality types and learning styles, each marked by a different color – gold for pragmatic planners, blue for sociable peacemakers, green for innovative investigators, and orange for aspirational risk-takers.
Through Community Teams, students at Ibraham team up with other students who share their category to participate in tailored lessons and compete to see whose team can achieve the most in school activities. Teachers see the program as a great way to get students excited about learning, and feeling like an important part of their team extends into feeling like an important part of their school.
“As we know, most kids are very competitive,” said Third Grade Teacher Tayshondlyn Huntley. “But even in the midst of the competitiveness, they’re still being kind and enjoying going in together and having a good time.”
On days with big Community Team activities, students wear t-shirts that match their team colors. Last year, these shirts were paid for through a chocolate bar fundraiser, but this year, Oak Grove Moravian Church stepped up with $3,250 to fund the shirts. Pastor David Berrier says that giving kids a reason to invest in their education is an important cause to him and his congregation, and he looks forward to seeing how these students grow and become key figures in their community.
“We’re in the same community,” Berrier said. “All of us need to work together to take care of our community.”
Oak Grove has collaborated with Ibraham on projects like this in the past to raise money and collect school supplies. The school also enjoys a partnership with Lutheran Church of the Epiphany, which has supported their backpack program and a community pantry that sends students home with food for their families every Friday.
Reich says that having support from local churches and civic organizations makes a world of difference in the quality of educational experiences that Ibraham can offer. Particularly for a Title I School, supplementing curriculum takes money that isn’t always available, but it’s much more realistic to close the gap in a community that’s willing to lend a hand.
“We don’t have a PTA here. There’s no extra money to do anything without fundraising,” Reich said. “This is such a blessing.”
