History
History
Learn about where Be Good People came from, why it exists, and who created it. The Be Good People journey began in March 2020 and continues to this day.
Embedded Files
Phase 1: The Spring of 2020
Phase 1: The Spring of 2020
The Pitch
The Pitch
When COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020, Nic had recently accepted a brand new position at the St. Croix River Education District (SCRED) focused on core behavior systems (Nic had been a School Psychologist with SCRED for five years at this point).Β
To Nic, it was obvious that the pandemic would have a significant impact on student behavior and mental health. Nic's goal with Be Good People was to ensure that SCRED's member districts (and the wider world of public education) would have an easy-to-use, cost-free universal curriculum for teaching valuable life skills. He wanted to bust all the barriers that keep schools from effectively providing this instruction to all students.
Nic pitched Be Good People to SCRED's Executive Director, Jamie Nord, during their first conversation about his new role. Jamie gave the green light for Nic to proceed with the project. Molly (see Collaborators) and Nic had previously adapted material from published curriculums for their students at the Chisago Lakes Education Center, and they learned a great deal from that work. Nic's vision for Be Good People, though, was to start from the ground up, building a curriculum totally from scratch and using Minnesota's benchmarks (published in 2018) to organize it.
Creator & Primary Author
The Collaborators
The Collaborators
Nic asked friends and colleagues Raycheal, Molly, Courtney, and Ry to collaborate with him on what would become Be Good People.
At the time, all four of Nic's collaborators were employees of SCRED or a SCRED member district; however, they have since moved on in their careers.
The group first met to collaborate on April 4th, 2020 β over Zoom. π·π
Raycheal Zamora
Raycheal Zamora
Trained as a School Psychologist and Special Education Teacher
Molly Gavett
Molly Gavett
Trained as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Courtney Strelow
Courtney Strelow
Trained as a Special Education Teacher
Ry Bostrom
Ry Bostrom
Trained as a Special Education Teacher
Nic brought the group a draft of what skills would be covered, at what grade levels, and how each skill would be defined. Over a series of Zoom work sessions, the group talked through this draft, line-by-line, to ensure Be Good People skills were clearly defined and grade-level appropriate. During one week in late April, Raycheal, Courtney, and Ry pitched in to help Nic write the thousands of lesson-specific scenarios and rationale statements needed.
Version 1.0
Version 1.0
Nic designed the templates for Be Good People's lessons, posters, worksheets, etc. He built the SCRED Life Skills website (this website) where the curriculum would be hosted. At some point, the low priority task of choosing a name for the curriculum became urgent, and by the end of a dog walk one day, Nic had four thumbs up in the text chain for "Be Good People."
It was a night-and-day sprint, but by late May 2020 the very first version of Be Good People was published on this website. Initially, the curriculum was K-12 only. There was no Core Edition and Intervention Edition; it was a single version. There were also no Extension Activities or Community Building activities β only Lessons. Nic spent the summer of 2020 finishing the worksheets, revising materials, and adding the curriculum's first visual graphics.
Phase 2: Fall 2020 - Present
Phase 2: Fall 2020 - Present
Intensive Development
Intensive Development
School years 2020-21 and 2021-22 were a near constant development process. Nic attended standing meetings with teacher leaders in the growing number of schools in SCRED's member districts who were using Be Good People school-wide. Feedback from these teachers, student and staff surveys, and other collaborators led to a stream of hundreds of updates to the curriculum.
Over those first two years, Nic worked nearly every evening, weekend, and school break to keep up with the demands of improving and expanding Be Good People. It was a very difficult time from a mental health perspective, and Nic always credits his partner Christina for her support and care during those difficult years. Without her, Be Good People as we know it wouldn't exist.
Nic sharing about Be Good People as the keynote speaker for the Nebraska School Counselor Association conference in 2023.
Nic designing PreK Be Good People lessons in the ramp up to their release in February 2024.
Key Upgrades
Key Upgrades
Nic learned graphic design skills in order to design the many graphics and icons that populate Be Good People materials. He found the thousands of photos, videos, and quotes included in Be Good People.Β
In spring 2021, Nic split the curriculum into separate Core and Intervention Editions, with shorter and longer lesson materials, respectively. Since that time, he wrote thousands of new practice scenarios for the Core Edition lessons so that students receiving interventions would receive fresh practice opportunities.
In spring 2024, Nic collaborated with Melanie Stever (Chisago Lakes Primary School), Alyssa Jackson, and Rob Benner (both SCRED) to design Be Good People's PreK lesson materials.
An example of the graphic design work that goes on behind the scenes. This is Nic designing the values symbols used across the curriculum.
Another example of the graphic design work that goes on behind the scenes. This is Nic designing the competency badges that are used across Be Good People and this website.
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