California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Nonacademic competitions

Teamwork, excitement, and school spirit often grow from events that reward extra effort. School faculty members can encourage student excellence by building on friendly competition among teams in a variety of nonacademic events, including:

  • Friendly competitions through homerooms, including a trivia question of the day (each class instantly responds through e-mail)
  • Number of students who dress up on spirit days
  • Door-decorating contests
  • Student body fund-raising contests
  • Teacher-student team competitions, such as an after-school volleyball tournament or noontime activities (such as a student/teacher egg tossing contest)
  • Attendance (competitions among teams or houses, or with neighboring schools)
  • Team test-day attendance
  • Money raised for a community service project
  • Sports, Recommendation 5—Relationships, TCSII.

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Academic competitions

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Celebrations—a culture based on caring and success