Student Honored for Boosting Morale
Kenilworth Public Schools
Madison Walker, a Harding Elementary School 5th Grader, came up with a fun challenge to boost the morale of students and staff alike during the difficult days of the pandemic. Madison’s idea was so successful, that the school continues to employ it and honored her with February’s Student Spotlight.
“With one email last year, Madison took an idea and turned it into a reality,” said Harding Principal Ron Bubnowski. “It has become something the whole school really looks forward to.”
Inspired by the “houses” in the Harry Potter series (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin), Madison suggested forming “Hawk Teams.” Students across grade levels are divided into “houses” or teams and encouraged to participate in an educational challenge. Challenges have included everyone completing all classwork and homework for a week, showing an act of kindness to another student, and writing thank-you letters to their previous teachers.
Teachers record how many students participate in each challenge, and the winning team earns a prize each week such as the chance to have a Pajama Day or Crazy Hair Day.
School counselor Kristen Jeans has been instrumental in supporting Madison with Hawk Teams, and now plans to help her and other students expand the initiative.
“We first implemented Hawk Teams at the end of last year for six weeks,” said Jeans. “It was so well-received from the students and teachers that we decided to turn it into something more and rolled it back out before the holidays. It’s a lot of work for just one student, so we created a committee and together we come up with ideas for new challenges and prizes.”
The committee decided to extend the goodwill of Hawk Teams to the community, sending Christmas cards to veterans at the local VFW.
“While many students returned to in-person learning last year, and we are easing slowly back into normalcy, things that were always fun about school like lunch, recess, assemblies, and class parties were significantly impacted by the pandemic,” said Jeans. “Madison wanted to cheer everyone up and Hawk Teams has done just that.”
Madison thanked the Board of Education as she accepted her Student Spotlight award.
“I love working on Hawk Teams. It has been such a fun experience. I love going to Harding School, and I’m so thankful for everyone there.”
Photo by Kenilworth Public Schools
