Bicycles to be given to students with highest growth on test scores

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Chief Aubrey Jenkins, Fire Marshal George Adams, and Assistant Fire Chief Mickey Folsom with the Columbia-Richland Fire Department help carry brand new bicycles into Carver-Lyon Elementary School.

Jenkins is personally donating 12 bikes to both Carver-Lyon and Watkins-Nance Elementary — and it’s a full circle moment for Jenkins, having grown up in the neighborhood he’s now giving back to.

“I know how important it is to want to receive something that you just can’t get, so it’s extra special for me because these are my roots,” says Jenkins.

Six boys and six girls at each school in third through fifth grades will receive a bicycle for showing the highest growth on their STAR test scores from August to January, which is different than the usual rewarding of top performers.

Carver-Lyon’s Principal Dr. Monica Adams says the bikes will be given to those students that show the most improvement in their math and English language arts scores.

“Three times a year, students are given a star test, and it’s an adaptive, computerized based test where teachers are able to use the information gained to guide their instruction. So students receive a scaled score. We all know that we’re going to have students that are not going to score at the highest level! That’s life! But we want our students to realize that even though you did not make the top score, that we also look forward to seeing you grow,” says Adams.

Focusing on growth is part of the daily routine for the students at Carver-Lyon, with seven positive written habits hanging above their heads as they enter the school each day.

“Every week we’re looking at a habit, and within that habit is a habit of growth, so our students can realize that you have to be prepared, you have to synergize. You have to think first and play first, so we want our students to realize that what we’re doing right now in elementary school can be used when you become an adult,” says Adams.

Jenkins hopes the bikes encourage kids to keep dreaming, and set bigger expectations for themselves.

“And the message is, it doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are, what walk of life you experience. You can be whatever you set your mind to be. You just gotta have the determination. You gotta keep moving, keep striving, and keep going, and you can make it. You can definitely make it,” says Jenkins.