Trustees Recognize
Washington Ways Honorees
Huntington School Board members recognized an outstanding group of Washington Primary School students during a public meeting of the trustees on January 12. The Washington Ways Award recipients stood tall and were happy to receive plenty of attention from the crowd.
Washington’s December honorees included Josue Umana, Rebecca Stone, Alyson Ramirez, Amanda Ganley, Timothy Hwang, Thomas Knapp, Theodore Hwang, Ronan Sosnowski, Sean Egan, Ayrianna Smith, Jabriel Murtza, Justin Villatoro, Yorman Portillo-Reyes, Jahmien Sexton, Josselin Escobar, Tyler Godin, Gradon Sosnowski, Frantzdy Ginaud, Mikah Schueller and Vito Aloe. The youngsters were presented with certificates as they stood before the trustees.
The classes of first grade teacher Miriam Engle and fourth grade teacher Vivian Joseph were also recognized for their outstanding efforts throughout the month of December. (The classes were not present at the Huntington School Board meeting.)
As the trustees and audience members listened attentively, Washington Principal Marsha Neville outlined the purpose of the Washington Ways program and employed the Socratic Method as she posed a series of questions to students one by one. The youngster thought hard about their answers and thus revealed valuable insight into the program that has challenged them to strive for successful outcomes each day.
The Washington Ways initiative focuses on recognizing and rewarding positive behavior while encouraging students to be safe, respectful and responsible. Students across all grade levels are given various colored tickets by teachers and support staff members for exemplary behavior. The tickets can be presented to the youngsters throughout the day.
White tickets are awarded weekly for good behaviors and actions in the classroom. White ticket winners are honored with special recognition in their classroom at the end of each week and their names are announced every Monday morning.
Red tickets are presented to individuals for notable good behavior outside of classrooms, including in hallways, buses, the playground and cafeteria, etc. At the end of the month, the student in each class with the greatest number of red tickets is recognized with a special certificate. Mrs. Neville announces the names of the honorees over Washington’s public address system.
Entire classes can earn blue tickets for positive group behavior out-of-the-classroom. Blue tickets are also awarded to the two classes within the building with the most tickets overall.
“We have wonderful students at Washington and it is a pleasure to recognize these outstanding boys and girls,” Mrs. Neville said. The group posed for a commemorative photo in the lobby outside the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium where the meeting was held.