Courtney is Student of the Month

Courtney has been selected as "Student of the Month" for her eighth grade team! Go Courtney!

She was not acting too student-of-the-month-ish when the news was announced over the school's intercom. She was reportedly "spacing out" when the morning announcements were being delivered. Her friend ribbed her and said, "I knew it would be you!" Courtney shook her drowsy head and asked, "Me, for what?" She was pleasantly surprised (and awakened) when her friend recounted the good news to her.

You may be wondering, what happens when someone wins Student of the Month? What do you get? Confetti shot out of the air vents? Flowers delivered to your locker? A singing telegram in your homeroom? No, you get a whah-whah-whah-whah message over the loudspeaker, reminiscent of Charlie Brown's monotone school teacher. You also get a letter delivered to your parents that "recognizes" you for positively contributing to the school environment. AND... here's the big prize... you get to have lunch with the Vice Principal! Huh? The letter sternly reads, "Students will report to the main office to eat pizza with Mr. Suozzo on Tuesday, May 4th at 12:27 p.m." Doesn't that sound more like disciplinary punishment rather than a reward? The reward should be not having to go to the VP's office, and definitely not having to awkwardly sit and eat pizza with him! Where's the free Cold Stone ice cream certificate? How about a "No homework for a week" pass?

We congratulated Courtney with big, proud hugs and expressed our condolences for her lunch date with the VP. The funny thing is, both Courtney and Caitlin came home with straight-A report cards last week. How did we, as great parents, reward our hard-working, responsible kids? We took them out to eat! That's not much different than the "reward" Courtney received for Student of the Month, is it? Eat lunch with the Vice Principal; eat dinner with the folks. Hey mom and dad, where's the "No bed-making for a month" pass? How about movies, chocolates, and no dish-washing for the rest of our lives? Above, Courtney's exasperated, yet exonerating expression says it all: you adults have got to kick your rewards-for-good-behavior up a notch!