Every school has its wonderful traditions and ceremonies in the last days of school, with children moving to new grades, receiving awards and recognitions, reading essays remembering their years in elementary school, singing favorite songs, and finding other unique ways to say goodbye to each other and the institution and community that has nurtured them.
Our school, of course, is no exception. But what especially stood out for me this year as our fifth grade departed on “Step-Up” Day, marking their transition to middle school next year, was something that was not there, for the first time in school history: awards. We had long given individual students awards for academic excellence and academic improvement, citizenship, music and art and physical education. These awards highlighted a few high-performing students in each area, but left the rest feeling undeserving.
For five years, our staff leadership team has wrestled with issues of how to recognize student achievement and positive behavior in the school without using traditional rewards or awards. Five years ago we eliminated “student of the month” in its traditional form, but in many classrooms Morning Meetings students take turns being “student of the week” and share about their lives, families and interests.
At All School Meetings, we do announce “Happy Mail”—good news certificates that go home frequently to students for their academic effort or for some courageous act a teacher has observed them doing for a friend or classmate. We try to notice the specifics and let children and parents know what we see.
This year, our staff leadership team (which rotates among teachers and staff at grade level and at large) unanimously decided it was time to drop all awards at the end of the school year. We wondered how the community and the children would react.
Our Step-Up ceremony was beautiful. The three essays read from each of three fifth grade classes were strong and articulate and spoke volumes about the values of our school community. The singing and goodbye traditions touched the parents and grandparents, as they always do. I don’t think anyone missed the awards. No one spoke to me about them. Maybe some will later, but in the moment they were too busy being proud parents and grandparents—each and every one of them!
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Hello, Gayle
Thanks for your comments and nice to hear from you. Our “Step Up” Ceremony allows about three children from each fifth grade class to read a brief essay about their years in grade school. Each child also receives a completion certificate, and a “magic penny” and the school sings to them. They also sing a song to us and to their parents. At the beginning of the ceremony I have the psrents all stand and face their children and then have the children stand and face their parentss and then I talk about how the teachers teach in school because it is their job, but the parents and grandparents teach because of love and they are here this day because of love and the parents who couldn’t make it today because they are at work, or in the army are where they are because of love and that nothing is more important for these 5ht graders to remember about leaving elementary school than the love of their parents and the love of their teachers that they can carry with them no matter what school they go to. every year these are the basics to “Step Up” and every year we add a little. As I wrote, I’m so glad we eliminated the individual awards. Chip
Chip, your timing of this post was perfect. I am a member of our school improvement team and we just finished 4 days of work on our new school action plan. During this time together, the topic of awards and honor roll came up. We had our discussions and really want to stay within the guidelines of the Responsive Classroom approach. We are struggling with some issues as well. Presently we do have an “End of the Year” ceremony for our 3rd graders. (We are a 1st -3rd grade school.) I e-mailed your thoughts from this last post to the principal and members of our team just to give them some info and food for thought. A 3rd grade colleague wrote back that she was interested in knowing more about your “Step Up” ceremony. Any info you can share would be greatly appreciated. Also, congratulations on your new position of Director of Elementary Schools! I have enjoyed reading and learning from this blog and hope you continue to keep sending out information!
Gayle Robert
St. Charles Parish Schools
Luling, Louisiana