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When her class was interrupted so that Virginia eighth-grader Amanda Choate could be recognized, she became overwhelmed with joy.
Her teacher handed her a sheet of blue paper, and her peers clapped in celebration. Choate learned she had received a referral for being a leader during a previous group discussion in her English class.
The class was talking about the book 鈥淭he Giver,鈥� and she encouraged others to speak up too.
Typically, referrals are a disciplinary tool used by school staff members. But Choate is one of the hundreds of Kilmer Middle School students who have received a 鈥減ositive鈥� referral since August.
The initiative started at the end of last school year, with the goal of emphasizing what students are doing to help the school community and motivating others to do the same.
鈥淚t encourages us to come to school and excites us to come to school knowing that our actions and kindness to others do actually mean something,鈥� Choate said.
The idea came from what Principal Steven McFarlane described as one of the most important parts of being a middle school educator: teaching students what it means to be a good citizen in their community.
Any staff member can write one of the positive referrals, nominating a student through a Google form. The referrals get printed once each week, and there are two copies. One gets posted on the windows in front of the cafeteria, and the other goes directly to the student.
On Fridays, students who earn a positive referral are given a candy bar.
鈥淚 had a decent amount of eighth graders that will come and kind of pull me aside and say, 鈥楬ey, I forgot my certificate to get my candy bar on Friday because my parents took my positive referral and it’s on our fridge,鈥欌�� McFarlane said. 鈥淭hat, to me, tells me everything, the impact it has on kids and their families.鈥�
Students can earn the referrals for things such as good behavior choices, setting a good example, or making the school community a warm and caring place, counselor Kristen Reighard said. Some students are honored for giving new kids school tours.
鈥淣obody looks forward to writing a discipline referral,鈥� Reighard said. 鈥淲e all really enjoy and are inspired to write positive referrals.鈥�
The program is having an impact, Reighard said because 鈥渢hen their peers are seeing their friends get recognized. It inspires the friends, the peers to also make those great choices.鈥�
Seventh grader Ethan Harney got his referral for his work during a Socratic seminar. He was 鈥渂eing a really good actor at that role and telling other people to join in and be their role,鈥� Harney said.
McFarlane, meanwhile, said while students are in the cafeteria or transitioning between classes, he鈥檚 looking for the ones who are 鈥渏ust doing the right thing because it鈥檚 the right thing.鈥�
鈥淵ou talk to any teacher in here, and they’re going to tell you about the impact that this has in their classroom,鈥� McFarlane said. 鈥淲hen kids are celebrating each other, when kids are going out of their way to make an impact in their classrooms, that, to me, tells you everything you need to know about the impact of this program.鈥�
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