Standard 2.2 Learning Culture of Creativity
Standard 2.2: The learning culture promotes creativity, innovation, and collaborative problem-solving.
eProve Teacher Survey Results
When asked how often their lessons include opportunities for students to express individual creativity, 75% of teachers responded with "almost always" or "often." We feel that this is an area of strength for us.
Student Murals and Art Displays
PHS prominently displays student artwork, in a variety of media, throughout the school. The image carousel on this page includes a sampling of these displays. By making these examples of student creativity part of the "background radiation" of the school, we aim to engineer the school culture towards one that values creativity, innovation, and problem-solving.
COVID Problem Solving
The COVID Pandemic produced situations that required a lot of problem-solving from our faculty and also our students. Our student government organization had many obstacles for the activities that we traditionally do throughout the year. These student leaders really shined in their ability to problem-solve their way around these obstacles. See the attached video to hear them describe their process in their own words.
StuCo COVID Problem Solving 2020.MOVThe Pride
"The Pride" is a daily variety show that is completely student-created. It includes school announcements, but is most well known for the creative segments that the students plan, create, and broadcast. Producing this show stretches these students, requiring creativity, technical skill, and problem-solving up to and during the broadcast itself. It is viewed in every classroom each morning which helps to permeate the PHS culture with creativity and problem-solving.
Student-Designed Logos
In true PHS fashion, when the school determined that we needed to establish a coherent brand, we looked inward to try to do so in-house. We now have two official school logos, both designed by students. The "P" with the lion face in it is the primary academic logo and the fierce lion is our primary athletic logo. A student team put together a complete Branding and Style Guide that codifies our official logos, exact school colors, and authorized fonts., as well as how to use them to represent the school. The complete branding guide can be found using the hyperlink provided. We are extremely proud of the fine work of our students and will enjoy using these resources for years to come.
Teacher Produced Music Video
During the school closure in the spring of 2020, the teachers collaborated together virtually to create this message for the students. They sang "Let is Be" by the Beetles to inspire and motivate students to work hard from home during this difficult time. The video ended up being featured on KSL news which led to a dramatic increase in YouTube views (over 17,000 as of the date of this accreditation).
Livestream Games & Activities
The same team of students that produce the Pride broadcast also produce a livestream service for our extra-curricular activities. This has been especially useful during the COVID pandemic. Every home event--from football games, basketball games, and wrestling matches to band and choir concerts, dance recitals, and theater performances--is livestreamed. Family members and friends who cannot attend in person, either because of time constraints, distance, or pandemic restrictions, have loved the livestream service produced by these students. Like the Pride broadcast, described above, livestreaming any performance stretches these students and requires creativity, technical skill, and problem-solving before and during the broadcast itself.
Asking to Dances
This is a fairly common practice in Utah high schools, but not in the rest of the country. When students ask other students to school dances, they have a tendency to do it big. They design elaborate and/or creative ways to do the asking and the answering. The wildly popular radio program and podcast This American Life featured Payson High School and this quirky, creative tradition in an episode called "Grand Gesture."
