School employees receive Orange Frog training

All Ponca City School district staff members will be participating in “Orange Frog” Training to encourage a more positive outlook on life and to promote happiness in the workplace.

The training, based on research by Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor, provides strategies to retrain the brain to think more positively.

Dr. David Pennington, superintendent, heard Achor speak at an American Association of School Administrators meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, and felt this logical training would benefit the staff due to current challenges educators are facing in Oklahoma.

Shelley Arrott, Executive Director of Human Resources, and Jill Henderson, Director of Special Services, attended training in May to become district “Orange Frog” trainers. An “Orange Frog District Tour” schedule has been developed, and all staff members will be provided training through September. New teachers and district secretaries attended the training during pre-school meetings.

“Research by Harvard’s Shawn Achor and others in the field of positive psychology proves that our level of happiness and positive outlook is directly correlated to predicable levels of sustainable success," Arrott said. "This success ripples out to those around us. Best of all, these strategies can be learned.”

Achor created a simple training based on a short story about a “normal” frog that chooses to be anything but normal. This story was written as a component of a training designed to spark a positive cultural transformation. Through the parable, participants are invited to share one frog’s journey to save an island in the midst of chaotic times, looming threats with a cast of recognizably disengaged characters.

The story is engaging and fun, but this logical training provides strategies to retrain the brain to approach engagement and happiness in today’s competitive work environments.

The training will:

• Increase Productivity
• Build Team Engagement
• Create a Positive Performance Culture

The research behind Achor’s studies has been used by many successful organizations and companies in more than 45 countries to generate a more positive, productive culture and work environment.

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Shelley Arrott, Executive Director of Human Resources, training district secretaries.