Craig Hockenberry: The 3R Academy Culture matters. When I arrived as the Superintendent of Schools at Three Rivers there were three major topics I had to lead the district through as soon as possible. They were, development of core values, strategic planning, and we had to address the poor culture of the staff. Every day I heard the words I have come to hate….Morale, morale, and morale. We could be feeding the staff a free meal during their lunch from food trucks and teachers would be talking about how bad the morale is at Three Rivers. We would give them snow days, free spirit wear, an amazing party during teacher appreciation week and the words continue to come about their morale. There were times I thought I was the captain of a pirate ship rather than a Superintendent of schools. So to address the issue of culture and boost morale we created the 3R Academy. This academy was a yearlong relationship building academy. We started by picking thirty-five people and each month we would plan a daylong event or events around the city of Cincinnati. We would get to know each other and build relationships. The selection of people was very strategic as we would invite custodians, bus drivers, instructional aides, elementary teachers, middle school teachers, high school teachers, and administrators. Our goal was to have people that work in the same build get a chance to meet and build relationship with people they normally would just pass in the hallways. We took them to places like the B & B Riverboats, the Freestore Foodbank, the Museum Center, Urban Axes, the justice center, Camp Joy, local colleges, and many other places. We spent the entire day working on relationships. We fed them, we thanked them, we made them laugh, and we watch them get to know each other and grow together. At the end of the journey we held a graduation ceremony where they received diplomas and had a very nice dinner celebration. Following the graduation we immediately picked thirty five additional staff for the next class. We did 4 years of the 3R Academy which included impacting one hundred and forty staff. I have many fond memories of watching the staff engage with each other and build amazing relationships. We made each year a totally different experience. Culture Matters By Craig Hockenberry Superintendent