Pence Families-
I want to take a moment to explain our Pence philosophy on recognizing students for their accomplishments as each of the middle schools do things a little differently based upon their school culture and community. First, we try to recognize as many students as we can throughout the entirety of the school year for demonstrating acts of character. Students are awarded positive referrals and Knight Spotlights on a continuous basis as they are “caught being good.” Each instance, students are given a copy of their recognition and are awarded with a small reward. Furthermore, at the end of each 9-weeks, we recognize our students who most consistently demonstrate the pillars of character as our “Knights of the Roundtable.” These students receive a certificate and an ice cream sundae. Simply put, we place a high value in trying to encourage trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Therefore, we recognize these achievements on an ongoing basis. Our Kelly Cogsdale Character Counts and Rotary Code of Ethics award winners are also recognized during the school year at special events.
On Friday, May 31st, students meeting certain criteria will also receive certificates of recognition for various achievements. All students who have earned straight A’s through the first 3 terms will receive an A Honor Roll Certificate. Eighth grade students who have an equivalent GPA of a 3.5 and at least one pass advanced score on an SOL in middle school will receive the Presidential Gold Award for Educational Excellence. The school will also recognize select students who have achieved despite personal hardships with the Presidential Silver Award. Every 8th grade student will receive a personalized token of remembrance highlighting their career at Pence. Yearbooks will also be distributed on this day. Additionally, some of our elective classes, clubs, and organizations choose to hold their own after school programs to recognize students on various dates.
Instead of having an awards ceremony or 8th grade graduation, we choose to have a school-wide celebration with our Pence Pride field day on the last day of school. We do this for several reasons. First, the middle school years are times of change. They are times of excitement, maturation, fun, struggles, and transition. We feel it is important to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of all. Second, students generally have 5th grade celebrations in their elementary schools and will be graduating from high school in just four short years. We believe in keeping those ceremonies special, especially the high school graduation as it is a culmination of many years of education, including the middle school years. Finally, we believe that awards ceremonies where all students are present and only 5% of the students receive awards can actually be detrimental to our students’ self-esteem based upon their ongoing maturation process while they are in “the middle.”
In summary, we do believe that we should educate, advocate, and celebrate! And this is the path we choose to take at Pence at the end of the year. Because we are truly Better Together!
Go Knights-
John Childs
