September’s Washington Ways Awards Presented
The new school year is off to a superb start at Washington Primary School, where more than 425 students spread across grades kindergarten through fourth grade are busy working closely with teachers and support staff members.
Principal Marsha Neville took to the public address system early Tuesday morning to announce the names of September’s Washington Ways Award recipients. The students were cited by teachers around the building for displaying all-around excellence in the way they go about their daily business, in classrooms, hallways and the lunch room and even outside on the playground.
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.
September’s honorees include Izabelle Colato, Fintan Hackett Johnson, Evolet Herrera Moreira, Michael Grover, Amy-Nicole Flores, Dakota Respass, Nica DiPietro, Sara Benitez, Julianna Ackerman, Eunice Lee, Sofia Van Arsdale, Kathleen Cocoman, Kohanna Nakamura, Mirella Portillo-Villalta, Anthony Addeo, Ayrianna Smith, Ismaris Bonilla, Lorena Ruiz-Cely, Jayson Colato, Michael Ambrozy and Nataly Rodriquez.
The entire classes of teachers Tina Balducci and Deborah Quiles were also recognized for their fine efforts and designated as September’s Blue Ticket Award winners.
“It was fun to recognize a student from each of our classrooms, as well as two entire classes for their superior efforts during the first month of the school year,” Mrs. Neville said. “All of our students aspire to be Washington Way Award winners.”
Here’s how the monthly Washington Ways program works:
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 especially 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 PA system.
Students are keenly aware of the Washington Ways program and the philosophy behind it. They are happy to be recognized with a colorful ticket. They quickly give the ticket to their classroom teacher so it can be credited to the youngsters. They love telling their parents about their recognition, too.
Entire classes can earn blue tickets for positive group behavior outside of the classroom. Blue tickets are also awarded to the two classes within the building with the most tickets overall.