Castaic Elementary School’s Kindergarten through sixth grade reading teacher, Terri Stillson, motivates students school-wide to put forth their best effort by delivering prizes each week on her Treat Trike. Her innovative approach has ignited a wave of excitement and motivation among students and teachers alike.

Every Wednesday, all students on the campus of Castaic Elementary look forward to seeing Stillson as she delivers fun rewards from her “Treat Trike.” Adorned with school colors, a loud horn and bell, pompoms, fun flags and a bluetooth speaker blasting fun music, the trike is a symbol of celebration and achievement. Hundreds of prizes fill the basket for students of all ages to choose from including school supplies, front of the line passes and more.

In order to determine which students get prizes each week, Stillson analyzes the data from i-Ready, an online program used by all schools in the district that personalizes each student’s learning in reading and math and monitors their progress throughout the year. Some weeks, a couple of students from each class are chosen for the Treat Trike recognition by most lessons passed at their individual level. Other weeks, recognition is determined by other factors such as most growth between diagnostics and/or lessons passed.

Not only has Stillson’s innovative Treat Trike brought more fun and motivation to the students, but it has also done so for all of the classroom teachers. Included in her Treat Trike basket are small stuffies of one of the i-Ready characters, Plory. These are collected each week and awarded to the teacher and class from each grade level who passed the most lessons in the current week to host until her next rounds. Teachers proudly display Plory on their desk, high up on a shelf, or in the window for all to see. Stillson is pleasantly surprised how much a small stuffie has stepped up the healthy and fun competition amongst teachers.

Pedaling around on her school’s campus on her decked out Treat Trike, Stillson brings joy, enthusiasm and well-deserved recognition to hard-working students and teachers. After 30 years of teaching at Castaic Elementary School at various grade levels, she said she is thankful her principals and staff have always supported and encouraged her innovative, fun and sometimes wacky ways to motivate students.

Stillson is looking forward to continuing to do so in her remaining years of teaching because she is a passionate believer that learning, and teaching, needs to be exciting and fun.

Also, since starting her weekly Wednesday deliveries, Stillson has also used the Treat Trike to honk for kindness along with the Kindness Club and at school-wide Cub Rallies. She plans on adding more occasions to use her three wheels to celebrate students and hard work.