Third-grade teacher Monica Contreras became a MobyMax advocate as soon as she saw it in action years ago. Many of her fellow educators at McKitrick Elementary School in Lutz, Fla., quickly followed suit when she began to introduce them to the leading e-learning platform for K-8 students.

“People that use MobyMax love it,” said Contreras. “Right away, we had eight teachers signed up. The word spread as teachers talked with other teachers about MobyMax.”

This past school year, McKitrick held a school-wide MobyMax Science Challenge to help students prepare for the annual Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) tests. More than 100 students participated, compiling a combined 17,000 points and gaining a 20 percent grade level increase in science.

The top three students achieved more than 2,000 points in the five-week science challenge. The second place student, Moritz Arnold, a third grader, completed more than 234 standards and is now learning at a 5.1 grade level in science. “My son was so excited about the contest, and it was intense! He learned about many new things, such as the respiratory system, he would not have just yet. He loved the friendly competition with his classmates and jumped from a third grade level to a fifth grade level in just four weeks!” said Mrs. Arnold.

FSA mission accomplished.

So, when it came to helping McKitrick students curtail the annual learning loss phenomenon known as “summer slide,” Contreras knew precisely where to turn.

“We are launching a summer learning contest with MobyMax,” she said, “to provide a fun way to reward kids for keeping up the learning over the summer and to generate more interest from students than we already have.”

McKitrick students will have the opportunity to compete in a personalized MobyMax Summer Olympics. Contest entry is optional and completely free for students.

Here’s how it will work:

• Students earn points in every subject by answering questions correctly.
• Those who earn 750 points during the 8 ½-week summer break will be invited to a special snow cone party at the start of the 2016-17 school year.
• Those students who earn the 1,500 points will be invited to a special, big picture Movie complete with popcorn, snow cones, and feature film shown in our transformed cafeteria movie theater.
• Those who earn 2,000 or more points will be entered in special drawings to win gift cards and treats.

To get the word out about the contest, Contreras said, it will be announced the last week of school during the daily morning announcements. In addition, a small handout with all of the contest information—structure, goals, student login information—will be inserted in each student’s final report card.

The lines of communication will remain open during the summer using MobyMax messenger, email, and Facebook.

The overarching goal, Contreras said, is to help McKitrick students come back from summer break with no learning gap, as well as to introduce new students to MobyMax.

For educators and administrators considering whether to hold a MobyMax summer learning contest for students, Contreras has one question:

“Why wouldn’t you?” she said. “It’s easy!”

To learn more about the school’s use of MobyMax, download the MobyMax Spotlight—Florida School Embraces MobyMax Year-round with Summer E-Learning Contest.