OPS school, Pawnee Elementary, has implemented a program called "Cubs with Character."
Students and staff are invited to nominate students who show great character in any number of ways. Each week, two students are chosen out of the nominees. They are then awarded a yard sign to take home that shows everyone they are a Cub with Character.
The students and their nomination forms are showcased in the building and on the school's Facebook page.
Principal Beth Holland got the idea off Pinterest and likens it to the Publisher's Clearing House. "What it's like is Ed McMahon coming to your house with the big check. We come with the big sign and we say, knock knock we need to come in, and they think, 'could it be? could it be?'"
We witnessed cheers from classmates when one of the Cubs with Character was honored.
Holland says you never know what a student faces beyond school walls, so it is important to connect with them. "It's not all about assessments. It's about growing academically but also as a human being, and we can never do that too often."
