Breakout EDU Spotlight: Cicero District 99 Academic Bowl
Emmie Pawlak (bottom left), Linda Parsinen (Top Middle), and Nicoleta Tsapaliaris (Bottom right)
CICERO dISTRICT 99 eDUCATORS
What is the Academic Bowl?
The Academic Bowl is a district-wide competition where students are grouped according to grade bands (kdg-3, 4-6, 7-8) and schools compete against each other. Teams solved locks from Breakout EDU that were appropriate for the team grade bands. Kdg-3 used paper copies, while all others utilized the BreakoutEDU platform on devices.
Why did you choose BreakoutEDu as part of our Academic Bowl?
We really wanted to emphasize those soft skills that many students struggle with and highlight those that demonstrated the 4Cs the most.
What 4C and SEL skills were fostered throughout the Academic Bowl?
Teams were chosen by the school’s PLTs based on those students who best demonstrated the 4Cs. While our previous Academic Bowls may have had more advanced learners competing, this year we wanted to highlight those soft skills that, at times, those students may struggle with. We were looking for students that demonstrated not only the 4Cs, but also those who showed grit, tenacity, and resilience when puzzles and locks became challenging.
What did you hear from students and parents during and after the event?
Parents were able to be members of the audience and their role was to support their child/school and not assist with solving the locks. Families were enthusiastic throughout each competition and couldn't wait for next year!
What was your favorite part of the Academic Bowl?
Nicoleta: My favorite part was the exposure that Breakout EDU got with all the schools in our area district. Using Breakout EDU for the academic bowl really highlighted to all the admin, teachers, and students in our district all the great things Breakout EDU has to offer.
Linda: The level of enthusiasm and support from the parents was fantastic, especially from the younger grades (K-6).
Emmie: I loved watching the students collaborate to solve the problems--even the youngest kids were able to contribute to the group and try to unlock the locks. The celebration after a team solved a lock was really fun, too!