Creating Remarkable Experiences
How Schools Can Turn Ordinary Moments Into Extraordinary Ones
In Fans First (2022), Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, didn’t just change baseball.
He reinvented the experience.
The Savannah Bananas are known for eliminating ticket fees, dancing players and umpires, a no-walks rule, and a guarantee that games last under two hours. Fans feel part of something joyful, human, and alive. Every detail is intentional: how fans arrive, how they’re treated during the game, and how they leave.
The result is not chaos or distraction.
It’s clarity, loyalty, and belonging.
Cole’s core insight is simple but powerful: joy isn’t a distraction from excellence. It’s actually what fuels it.
Imagine if our schools applied that same thinking.
When we remove friction, elevate arrival, and intentionally close the day, we send powerful messages to students and families:
You belong here. You matter here. Today matters.
Below are three ways school leaders can begin turning ordinary moments into extraordinary ones without losing focus on teaching and learning.
1. Eliminate Friction
Jesse Cole obsessively removed obstacles that got in the way of enjoyment: hidden fees, long lines, confusing rules. Schools have friction too.
Think about the student and family journey: enrollment, scheduling, lunch lines, counseling requests, attendance reporting, and communication home. Where do people get stuck? Where does confusion quietly erode trust?
Small design choices matter:
Clear “how-to” videos instead of dense instructions
Streamlined digital forms instead of paper handoffs
QR-code scheduling for counselors or support staff
Peer ambassadors or a “student concierge” during high-stress transitions
When systems are intuitive, belonging feels like the default and not something students have to earn.
2. Turn Arrival Into a Moment That Matters
At a Savannah Bananas game, the energy is immediate. The first five minutes tell you that this experience is different.
Schools can do the same without gimmicks.
Arrival sets the emotional tone for the day. Music in the commons, students welcoming students, staff visible and smiling, intentional energy on testing days, spirit days, or performance days. Even simple rituals such as greetings, recognition, and shared language signals that the day has purpose.
When the first impression feels alive, learning feels more meaningful.
3. Elevate the Exit
At Bananas games, fans leave together singing Stand By Me. The ending is intentional and unforgettable.
What do students feel when they leave school each day?
Schools can design meaningful closures:
“Good News Fridays” that highlight real students and real growth
Graduation walk-throughs in elementary or middle schools
Weekly shout-outs that name effort, kindness, resilience - not just academic achievements
The last feeling students carry with them shapes how they remember school and whether they’re excited to return.
“But We Don’t Have Time for This…”
This is the most common resistance and the most important to address.
Creating remarkable experiences does not add more, it redesigns what already exists on purpose.
When students feel safe, seen, and energized, instructional time improves. Attendance improves. Engagement improves. Behavior improves. Teaching and learning don’t compete with culture. They depend on it.
What’s at stake is not whether schools become “fun.” What’s at stake is whether students experience school as something done to them or with them.
Final Reflection
Jesse Cole reminds us that remarkable experiences don’t happen by accident. They’re engineered through empathy, energy, and intentional design.
In schools, the same principle applies.
Every hallway, every form, every morning and every dismissal is part of a story we’re telling students about who they are and what this place is for.
The goal isn’t entertainment. It’s meaning.
And when school feels meaningful, students don’t just show up. They show up engaged.