Wyoming — Artistic crests representing wolf dens are everywhere at West Elementary: in school windows, hallways, in the cafeteria, and on T-shirts, banners and artwork.
They symbolize the school’s new den system, with the names Lobos, Mahigan, Tikkani and Obahoshe — all indigenous words for “wolves” — into which the school’s 500 students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade are divided.
“We are a strong team, we work together, and we are brave and we solve problems,” said third-grader Caleb Gomez Lopez, a member of the Lobos den, in which he and 125 kindergarten through fourth-graders come together for lunch, recess and extra special Fridays.
“What it means to be a Lobos is to help others and be kind,” said second-grader Bella Osmolinski.
‘We did this for belonging; it’s student belonging, parent belonging and staff belonging’
— Principal Brian Hartigan
What’s a Den System?
Principal Brian Hartigan started the West Elementary den system at the beginning of the school year to cultivate togetherness and provide a fun way to rejuvenate the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system, fostering connections school-wide.
“The excitement is palpable,” Hartigan said, as 125 Lobos den members headed into a darkened media center to play glow-in-the-dark tic-tac-toe and other games, dancing with teachers and parents. It was their weekly time to celebrate, and each den would have their own hour of structured play.
A Wyoming Public Schools initiative, as part of its strategic plan, is to foster belonging. Hartigan found a way to put his own twist on it.
“We did this for belonging; it’s student belonging, parent belonging and staff belonging,” he said. “It’s been successful in all those ways.”
The system is modeled after a traditional house system at British boarding schools, where schools are divided into houses and each student is assigned to one — think Hogwarts and the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw houses.
Hartigan also read about The Ron Clark Academy, a middle school in Atlanta, Georgia, that has had success using a house system.
Part of a Community
Representative of the bigger Wyoming Wolves, the philosophy is “four dens, one pack,” Hartigan said.
Each den is assigned a specials teacher who serves as den leader on Fridays when art, music and other specials are replaced with den meetings, and den members eat lunch and go to recess together as well.
During those times, dens develop their own identity.
“A Lobos is where you can get points if you’re good, and you can get points for your den,” said first-grader Julian Sanchez.
As Julian explained, dens compete for points, which are awarded for such things as displaying expected behavior, completing service projects, attending school regularly and reaching academic expectations.
Several animated digital leaderboards around the school track den points, catching students’ attention if first place shifts to a new den.
“If they move into first place, a dragon comes on to the screen,” Hartigan said. “When that happens we hear screams all over the building.”
One student from each grade level per den is regularly honored as Leader of the Pack for being a point leader in their den, and parents are invited to celebrate their student at an assembly.
Krystal Arguella, a West Elementary paraprofessional who has a fourth-grader, said she’s excited to see more parents in the building.The dens led to the founding of Pack Parents, for which she is a co-leader.
That group already has nine members involved in planning den activities and events. They come in to prepare materials, frost cookies or lend a hand in any way needed. Arguella said she is seeing growing interest.
“I love it as a parent. It’s beautiful to see more opportunities for parents to be involved in the school. We are seeing more parent volunteers. … It’s always nice to see the faces of the kids when they see their parents in the school.”
During the glow party, art teacher Nicole Detoro, who leads the Lobos pack, played an illuminated game on the floor with two students. She said the dens are a fun way to get to know each other.
“It’s (led to) new ideas and activities for the kids to work together on,” Detoro said. “It’s really awesome to see the fourth-graders helping the kindergartners, and everybody getting along together. I do see more of a sense of belonging. … It seems like more of a sense of togetherness and caring for each other.”
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