The K12 Zone Report

A brand-new Castle Quest Raffle has arrived in the K12 Zone, giving students the chance to solve daily riddles and win exciting prizes! Each day in March, students can visit the Town Crier in the National Zones to find a new castle-themed riddle. At the end of the week, students who have correctly answered all five riddles will be entered into a raffle to win one of four $25 gift cards.

Teachers can join in on the fun too! Each week, the four K12 teachers with the most student riddle submissions—right or wrong—will also receive a $25 gift card. Encourage your students to participate daily to maximize their chances of winning while sharpening their problem-solving skills!

In addition to the Castle Quest Raffle, students can now enjoy brand-new castle-themed avatars in the K12 Zone! Whether they want to become a fearsome dragon, a noble knight, or a playful jester, these new avatars bring even more medieval fun to the experience.

✨ Encourage your students to visit the Town Crier today, solve the daily riddle, and check out the new avatars in the K12 Zone!

Moderators play a vital role in ensuring a safe and welcoming K12 Zone. The K12 Zone Monitoring Guide for Teachers and the accompanying training video provide key strategies for observing student behavior, handling chat concerns, and using moderation tools effectively.

How it works:
👀 Monitor student interactions to encourage positive engagement.
🛠️ Use moderation tools to remove, mute, or ban students when necessary.
🚫 Ban students from School Zones instantly using the Social Hub > Safety Actions.
📌 Request a National Zone ban by posting in the K12 Zone Moderators Team Chat with the student’s email address.

For a full walkthrough, check out the Monitoring Guide and Training Video to learn best practices for keeping the K12 Zone safe and fun for all students!

Looking for a fun, interactive way to engage students in review sessions? Quiz Race in the K12 Zone allows students to test their knowledge in a fast-paced competition while racing to answer questions correctly. The best part? Teachers can fully customize the questions to match state test prep, weekly quizzes, or any classroom topic!

Students will compete against each other, moving through a series of eight questions as quickly as possible. The leaderboard tracks scores and completion times, adding a competitive edge that motivates students to improve. Whether reviewing key concepts or reinforcing new material, Quiz Race makes learning exciting and dynamic.

✨ Encourage your students to try Quiz Race today and challenge classmates to see who can get the fastest perfect score! 🚀

📖Optional POC Activity: Castle Quest: The Secret Word

In Castle Quest: The Secret Word, students become brave castle explorers, working together to uncover hidden clues scattered throughout the majestic Castle World. As they search for letters tied to iconic castle-themed items, students practice problem-solving and collaboration. The ultimate challenge? Unscrambling the letters to reveal a secret word and restore the Royal Crown to its rightful place—completing their quest and saving the kingdom!

How-To Video

Step-by-step Directions

Link to Duplicate Form: Click to Make Your Own Form

📜Optional Teacher Activity: A Castle Mystery: Find the Royal Crown

In A Castle Mystery: Find the Royal Crown, students become royal explorers, navigating the majestic Castle World to uncover hidden clues and solve a thrilling mystery. As they journey through towers, kitchens, dungeons, and grand halls, students collaborate to locate the missing Royal Crown and restore it to the throne—saving the kingdom in the process!

How-To-Video

Step-by-step Directions

Teacher Lesson Plan

Teacher Lesson Plan Feedback

Where do the clues go:

Clue #1: Middle of the castle where students drop in

Clue #2: In the room in the castle with all the food

Clue #3: Down by where the meat is hanging in the village

Clue #4: This should go in the dragon's cave or by it

Clue #5: By the telescope

Clue #6: By the King

📌 Encourage students to participate and make the most of this week's interactive activities! 🚀

This year, we’re working together to make the K12 Zone an even more welcoming and engaging space for all students and teachers. Our shared goal is to ensure that:

✅ Every K12 student knows the Zone is a place to connect, make friends, and build community.
✅ Every teacher and student experiences the K12 Zone—exploring its features and possibilities.
✅ Teachers and students are engaging in the Zone for at least 30 minutes a week, making it a fun and valuable part of learning.

We’re excited to continue growing the K12 Zone together! THANK YOU for helping make it a place where students connect, learn, and thrive. 🚀

Don’t forget—Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday! ⏳ Schools should double-check their K12 Zone open and close schedules to ensure they are set correctly after the time change.

🔹 Steps to Verify Your Schedule:
✔ Go to World Settings in the K12 Zone dashboard.
✔ Review and adjust your scheduled open/close times as needed.
✔ Remember, scheduling is based on Central Standard Time (CST).

✨ Make sure your zones open and close at the correct times next week! 🚀

Looking for extra support in your school’s K12 Zone? Schools can now have their own high school interns to help plan events, create digital content, and build student connections.

Internships can be structured in a way that works best for your school—pay interns if funding is available, tie the role to a career pathway program, or offer it to students who need volunteer hours. I’ll provide all the training and support needed to set them up for success. Let me know if your school is interested!

K12 Zone School-Level Internship Program

K12 Zone Intern Job Description

K12 Zone Intern Guide

Looking for an engaging way to spark discussions and reinforce learning? Try Fast Friends in the K12 Zone! This interactive game allows teachers to customize questions and prompts, making it a versatile tool for any subject.

📚 ELA – Have students discuss themes, character motivations, or persuasive arguments.
🔢 Math – Use it for quick problem-solving challenges or math fact reviews.
🌎 Social Studies – Encourage debates on historical events, government systems, or cultural perspectives.
🧪 Science – Let students compare hypotheses, discuss scientific phenomena, or predict experiment outcomes.
🎨 Art & Music – Explore art styles, musical compositions, or creative techniques.

This week’s shout-out goes to Angella Lake and Jake Myers, Reading and Math Specialists at TVAH, for their innovative use of classroom zones to support struggling students! 🎉 They have transformed their zones into engaging, subject-focused spaces—an elementary beach retreat, a middle school 80s throwback, and a high school Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

👏 Thank you, Angella and Jake, for your creativity and commitment to making learning both fun and impactful in the K12 Zone! 🚀

This week, we’re celebrating Erin Wermeling at WIVA for her dedication to customizing her school’s K12 Zone and empowering others to do the same! 🎉 Erin has gone above and beyond by designing a unique, engaging space for her students while also creating a helpful video tutorial so other educators can learn from her work.

👏 Thank you, Erin, for your creativity, leadership, and commitment to making the K12 Zone a more interactive and inspiring place for students and teachers alike! 🚀

New to the K12 Zone? Join our weekly K12 Zone 101 Training to learn the basics! This session is perfect for teachers and staff who want to navigate the platform, manage student interactions, and use key features effectively.

📅 Every Thursday at 3:00 PM (CST)

✨ Get the tools you need to feel confident using the K12 Zone from day one! 🚀

Step into an epic medieval adventure with Castle World in the K12 Zone! From the grand royal castle to the mystical dragon’s cave, students can explore a world filled with hidden treasures, jousting arenas, village markets, and more!

Students can solve riddles at the Town Crier, navigate the garden maze, or climb the telescope tower for a breathtaking view of the realm. With so many areas to discover, Castle World is the perfect space for students to connect, explore, and have fun!

🎥 Take a guided tour and experience Castle World for yourself by watching the preview video! ✨

📌 Stay tuned for even more immersive experiences coming soon to the K12 Zone! 🚀

If you’re unable to attend the K12 Zone 101 Training for Teachers, no worries! You can catch up anytime by watching the recording linked below.