Jeramiah is a smart and funny kid at Chisholm Trail Middle School who had not seen academics as an important part of his life. For as long as I’ve known him, his grades were simply not meaningful to him. He shrugged off bad grades and focused instead on video games, Star Wars, and comics. I knew Jeramiah was the perfect student for my academic incentive group called “Amiibros.”
In the group, students are assigned an “amiibo”, a small toy of a famous Nintendo character that is used in battles on the Wii U console. The amiibo’s game stats (health and strength) are directly determined by the student’s academic performance. The amiibos’ avatars fight against one another in the game Super Smash Bros. If a student is earning poor grades, their amiibo receives negative consequences that make them worse in the week’s battle against the other student’s amiibos. The week’s winner receives an award as well as bragging rights.
Jeramiah chose Luigi of the famous Mario brothers to be his champion in our group. Week after week, Luigi was being beaten by the other amiibos because of Jeramiah’s poor grades. Soon after, Jeramiah got tired of being defeated and decided to put more effort into his education.
Jeramiah began attending tutoring sessions every day after school. This has done wonders for his grades and his self-esteem because he knows that with just a little bit of hard work he can achieve more in life. Grades are still a struggle for Jeramiah, and there are still weeks where poor Luigi continues to lose, but he is starting to climb the ranks. I am starting to see a different Jeramiah: one who understands the importance of achieving academically and in life.
