Grit is defined as courage and resolve; strength of character and that is exactly what’s being taught to the 60 students that partake in the new program, GRIT.

“Grit means that you have back bone, strength of character, you can stand up to things that others can’t, you aren’t going to give up,” counselor Erica Kempema said. “You’re going to keep going, you’re going to persist even when things are hard and you want to throw in the towel.”

100 students were anonymously invited by the faculty and 60 of those students decided to give the program a chance. The student’s gender and grade was randomly assigned to a couple different teachers. These students are taught skillful habits such as persistence, leadership and continual learning.

“In that class they teach us how to have leadership skills, at first I thought it was about how to make my grades better,” sophomore Dominick Dao said. “But it was really about improving leadership skills and they said all my teachers picked me because I showed those skills.”

The Grit program has three field trips and meets during Advocate throughout the year. On the first field trip they went to the high ropes course in late November where they were taught to keep pushing themselves.

“We went out on the high ropes course after spring break students showed so much emotion after accomplishing, by the end of it, it was probably the most awesome experience I’ve had as a teacher,” English teacher Jennifer Winters said. “They showed so much emotions after accomplishing it and I heard phrases like ‘I can’t’ and ‘I won’t’ that when they did it, it was an awesome experience.”

For junior Brienna Loomis, even staying on the ground made an impact on her thought process about leadership.

“I didn’t actually go up on the ropes because I was scared,” Loomis said. “But I did help out with other stuff the entire time and they said that that showed leadership skills, by helping people and cheering them on.”

Loomis was rewarded with a carabiner, an industrial clip used in rock climbing that connects the rope to the harness, for her not letting her fear of the high ropes get in the way with helping others out.

“It was really special getting the ring because I don’t really get anything for being out going or helpful usually,” Loomis said. “I was just glad I could be there to help and support people.”

The second field trip is going to be a low ropes course and while the third field trip place hasn’t been picked yet, it plans on involving a combination of everything the students have learned from the program.

“The field trips are the best place to learn persistence and how to not give up. That what the program is going to do by helping a select group of students that will then go and spread it throughout the school,” Kempema said. “This program has helped many of the students behave like leaders and helped them realize what can be achieved through persistence.”

With skill building and fun field trips, the GRIT program is put in place as a way to strengthen the confidence and skills of anyone who joins it.

“It’s working because students are starting how to harness their strengths,” Winters said. “And they are able to see their friends learn about their secret talents and are able to talk to a bunch of different teachers.”