It’s a bird… it’s a plane… no, it’s a Dove Elementary SUPER Student!
This year at Dove Elementary School, classes have gotten used to the idea that one day, they might get surprised by a group of campus leaders carrying a cape and mask for one special student in their midst to don as they are announced in front of peers as the most recent SUPER Student at school.
DES Counselor Jennifer Hill is behind this new idea, which she thought up after Principal Heather Landrum challenged the school’s leadership team to work on a passion project this year.
“I love seeing students excited about being recognized for doing a good job,” Hill said.
She realized, however, that while they recognized students of the month who exemplify character traits they teach, like respect, responsibility, cooperation or courage, to name a few, they did not have a schoolwide system for recognizing students who may be doing great things that don't necessarily fit into those categories.
“I was inspired by GCISD's push for members of the GCISD community to nominate Stars of GCISD,” Hill shared. “After thinking about all of those pieces along with our school's SUPER theme this year, I brainstormed and came up with Dove's SUPER Student recognition.”
Parents, members of the community, and staff members at Dove can recognize students for being SUPER in whatever way they see fit. For example, they now recognize students who work really hard to reach a goal or who are consistently caught doing the right thing, whether it fits into that character trait of the month or not.
“We also didn't have a system for parents to participate in the recognition process as students of the month are limited to teacher selections, so this added that layer,” Hill explained. “In the future, we've talked about possibly opening up nominations to students as well.”
Once SUPER Students are nominated, the Dove Leadership Team reviews nominations and selects who will be recognized on any given day. These surprises happen randomly and are not tied to a specific date, so the students are excited and surprised when these visitors enter their classrooms.
Stephanie Burns, a parent of fifth grade student and recent SUPER Student Hunter Jones, said that awards like this help celebrate both hard and soft skills.
“Academic grades are very important but so is sharing and helping others,” she shared. “Both skill sets are important life skills and Dove Elementary is doing a fabulous job in recognizing our fantastic students and staff!”
She went on to add that “I was both thrilled and excited for Hunter to be recognized as a Super Student! He has been working hard at school and home to get good grades. He is always willing to help others in our community and that makes my momma heart so proud of him.”
Landrum, who charged her campus leaders, herself included, to find something they are passionate about and implement it this school year, is proud of Hill and her strength of always seeing the good. She says this new way of recognizing students has been uplifting and made a positive impact on the school community.
“The day-to-day work in each of our roles is vitally important, but often we get consumed with the immediate needs, and there are important things we can do to create a positive culture at our school and bring joy to our work,” Landrum said. “It's been exciting to watch our team think outside the ‘must-dos’ of a typical school day and find ways to connect to our students.”
That is what Hill hoped the program would do – spread positivity throughout the campus. But ultimately, as always, it’s all about preparing, motivating and encouraging each student to reach his or her full potential.
“I hope it encourages students to always do their best, no matter what it is that they are doing.”
To nominate a Dove Elementary SUPER Student, click here to fill out the nomination form.