Gone are the days of lunchtimes forsaken to take a test, paper-and-pencil hunts for ticket purchases and washed-out whiteboards holding the traces of forgotten spirit points.
In their stead, Pinewood is introducing bimonthly Community Days and the 5-Star Students app.
This year, assemblies and teacher meetings will take place during Community Days, while 5-Star propels students into a streamlined system of tracking student engagement.
According to Director of Student Life Kyle Riches, the app has made the Associated Student Body and grade councils more efficient. Through 5-Star, student leadership can push surveys, distribute dress-up day information, organize elections and easily keep track of spirit points.
“What we used to be doing was keeping track of people by checking them off on a list, which we would transfer into some other data sheet,” ASB Culture and Community Chair Jamie Burton said. “5-Star has it all in one app.”
In addition to streamlining the whole process, the app has increased and continues to increase student engagement.
“I have never seen so many signups for clubs and affinity spaces,” Riches said. “It really is a fun way to increase participation and increase community and spirit.”
In the coming months, ASB plans to track lunchtime activities, dance asks and assembly competitions with 5-Star points.
“I’m hoping to turn it into a game,” Riches said. “Like in the reward section, where if you dress up, you get points and you can redeem those points for stuff around campus.”
These points can then be redeemed for rewards like gift cards, free lunches and lunch line passes.
While the app rewards those who engage, it also allows leadership and administration to see which students are participating, and which are not.
“It’s like my one-stop shop,” Riches said. “Admin can see what students might not be participating, so it tracks individual engagement as well.”
This year, the teachers have also joined the spirit competition. Without a leadership council, the responsibility of engaging teachers falls on Riches or Assistant Head of Upper Campus Haley Hemm.
“There’s no hype person yet, but we are all here because we love to teach and we love to work with students, so we also want to participate,” Riches said.
According to Riches, this is part of the reason a Culture and Community Chair was added to ASB and grade level councils. They provide an extra resource for student engagement, while also spearheading Pinewood’s new community days.
“I‘ve really put a lot of trust in ASB and student council to really take the lead, learn how to run an assembly or, for the community chair, to plan a community day,” Riches said. “I feel like they’ve done a fantastic job and I’ve done my best to support them along the way.”
