The first full week back to school after a huge break can be rough.
There are times when you aren’t sure if the kid is just deep in thought or in a coma.
I wanted to try to combat this state of boredom and sleepy eyes with something special, something different. I wanted kids to feel AWESOME and get their new year off to a great start. But….
You don’t know where to go from here if you haven’t first reflected on where you came from.
I reflected on all 128 of my students as individuals. I looked at where they started the year and how they ended 2017. I considered things like academics and discipline, but I also focused on attitude and grit. Then I created awards for kids. Custom awards. There wasn’t a single one that looked the same.
Now I was ready to roll out my red carpet.
There was one problem. I didn’t have a red carpet. Nothing even remotely close.
But I did have this….
Close enough, right?
I also wanted to have paparazzi type of photos taken. But that is actually probably illegal and a little creepy. So I gave kids unlimited storage on their air iPhones and they made an intense amount of clicking noises as kids got announced for the award. I then gave them the time and space to make their walk down the carpet special. I had fierce hair flips and whips, I had classic elegant walks, I had awkward penguin like waddles, I had dead fish(ish) flops on the floor, I had the worm, and literally everything in between.
One thing was the same for every walk, AMAZING cheering! Celebrity encounter type excitement. TONS of clapping occurred as I publicly recognized each kid in front of their peers for their amazing accomplishments of 2017. Kids felt special and it made my heart really happy.
One kid stopped before going back to his chair and asked if he could give a short speech. He had seen it happen on an award show and he wanted to try it out.
“I’d like to thank fried chicken and Kool-Aid for providing me nourishment which helped me be positive at school. I’d also like to thank my sponsors Red Bull and Tostitos pizza rolls, just because I like them. And I’d like to give a shout out to my pet rock. Thanks.”
Mic Drop.
I loved that moment so much. It was silly, but so meaningful!
Creating these kinds of opportunities for kids sets the stage of epic growth for the future.
Welcome back to school, everybody!
PS- Don’t miss this highlights of 30 seconds of fame…
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