Claim your prize
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles marking the 50th Anniversary of Hartselle City Schools.
Elementary schools understand reward systems. Trinket laden treasure chests, ice cream days, PE choice days, special chairs or rugs or tables for classroom sitting, extra minutes at recess the list could go on and on.
I can remember my own fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Stover, keeping a board with students’ names and sticky stars to mark accomplishments. I was always a sucker for one of those gold, silver, red, or green 1970’s lick ’emand-stick ’em stars. The taste was terrible, but the feeling was fine.
Students across all grade levels are praised for their accomplishments by having their names published on honor rolls, by being recognized in ceremonies, and finally by being bestowed with an honor stole or honor cord at commencement.
Hartselle’s rewards predate the forming of its independent school district. Sherri Rahm, retired Barkley Bridge music teacher, recently recalled such a reward.
In 1962, Fowler’s Drug Store was on the corner of Sparkman Street and Main Street. They sold real fountain sodas, and my friends and I considered them to be quite a treat. Professor Burleson was my elementary school principal. He would sometimes reward students, in the middle of the school day, with a trip to Fowler’s for a soda fountain Coke. One day, I was for-tunate enough to be one of those students. After lunch, a few of us climbed into the cab of his pickup truck and rode over to Fowler’s for the treat. It’s my favorite memory!
During my time as Barkley Bridge Elementary’s principal, we held a yearly Winterfest Carnival that included a silent auction brimming with donated and parent-purchased items packed into beautiful gift baskets and auctioned off to fund the school’s projects for the year. In addition to the gift baskets, many of us offered our time for auction. For instance, students could bid to swim with a friend at Mrs. Matson’s home. My offer was to take a student out for a frozen yogurt and then over to Target where the student could choose a $10 item. I picked up the tab for the activities, but the bids from generous parents far exceeded the day’s cost.
From the honor stoles to the sticky stars to the fountain Cokes to the frozen yogurt, the common thread in all of these rewards whether earned through accomplishment or purchased in a silent auction is acknowledgement. And I am not referring to acknowledgement that is desired due to arrogance, I am referring to the acknowledgement that assures a child that he or she is seen and heard and valued.
In classrooms, acknowledgments such as these are also offered to students for accomplishments that might appear slight to most but are recognized by a teacher as significant in a child’s academic, developmental, or emotional development.
Rewards are important, but not because they increase our stash of any material thing. Rewards, and praise, and attention are important because they empower all of us, young and old, to strive.
