The Hope School Agile Story

Hope High School is a Charter school in Phoenix, AZ with an incredible Agile story. ”Students at HOPE use Scrum within their student council to create a culture of teamwork and cooperation, showing that this framework and the Agile mindset can drive transformation in all kinds of team-based settings,” said Lisa W. Hershman, interim CEO of Scrum Alliance.
Established in 2003, HOPE High School serves at-risk students, including those with histories of gang involvement or teen parenthood. Most HOPE students live below the poverty line, and some have full-time jobs. Facing unique challenges from a student body so unlike that of the average public school, Principal Krissyn Sumare sought an innovative management structure from Agile and Scrum. “Agile has worked here because it is a nontraditional practice in a nontraditional field,” Sumare said. “To some schools, students like ours, they don’t exist. They don’t look at them like they’re real students. They don’t see the value of who they really are. With Agile, it allows us to pull those values from them that no one else has been able to see.” HOPE student council member Moses Gonzales explained the positive influence Scrum practices have on the team dynamics: “My team has their trust in me, I have trust in them. We’re learning to cooperate.” In 2015, Sumare and Agile Coach John Miller, a certified Scrum Coach and Professional Co-Active Coach, presented a Scrum for Education workshop at the Global Gathering in Arizona, using the experience at HOPE High School to demonstrate success. This year, Scrum Alliance is excited to welcome students from HOPE’s student council “Hope Squad” to the Gathering in San Diego, so they too can connect with the community of agilists and Scrum trainers and coaches, and learn from others’ experiences and expertise. Both school administrators, as well as the whole teaching staff at Hope High School, are Certified Scrum Masters (CSMs). - See more at: www.scrumallia...

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