INCENTIVE PROGRAM REWARDS, MOTIVATES

Members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education earned Tiger Pride cards at Monday's board meeting because they were good listeners. The recognition also illustrated how a new incentive program at Central High School works.

The program, called Renaissance, involves incentives and recognition programs for students, staff members and school patrons.

Julia Jorgenson, a Central High teacher who is coordinating the program, said incentives aren't like bribes. Incentives motivate and reward, and businesses successfully use incentives all the time with employees. She said the idea should work with students and teachers.

The Tiger Pride cards, CHS student Stan Clark said, are given to students who have been a good citizen. Perhaps the student picked up litter or helped someone. The student trades the Tiger Pride card for a fast food coupon and is entered into a drawing. The staff members who recognized the good deed also gets a prize.

To encourage attendance, the school holds a Northwestern Mutual drawing each week for $5. To win, the student whose name is selected must have been in school all week with no tardies and discipline problems. The pot can grow if students don't meet the standards.

Another attendance incentive program is "Dennington's Doughnuts." First hour classes with no tardies and perfect attendance for a week can enter a drawing for doughnuts on the last Friday of the month.

CHS student Tiffany Biggerstaff explained how the program rewards academic performance.

Students earn academic credit cards -- a gold card for A honor roll, an orange card for B honor roll and a white card for students who improve their grades.

The cards qualify for merchant discounts from sponsoring agencies.

Scholar athletes and musicians will also be honored.

Student Ben Keefe said, "If the staff is happy, everybody's happy." The program includes birthday cakes, gift certificates, door prizes at faculty meetings, staff shirts and a wellness program.

Jorgensen said Renaissance programs have been working in other places. Grades, test scores and attendance has improved while dropouts and discipline problems have decreased.

Additional sponsors for the program are needed.

MEETING AT A GLANCE

-- Cape Girardeau is one of seven communities in Missouri to participate in a Community Partnership program. The program brings community services closer to parents and families by working through schools. It is similar to the Caring Communities project which has been working at May Greene Elementary School. The concept will be expanded to include Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and L.J. Schultz schools.

-- Bids will soon be let for new copy machines throughout the school district. Last year, the district paid more than $63,000 for copier repairs, service and toner. The total didn't include copy paper.

-- Board member Harry Rediger said he and Superintendent Neyland Clark are working on the organizational chart for a strategic planning committee. He hopes to involve several hundred people and to have the committee in place by the start of the school year.

-- A board orientation session with the Missouri School Board Association and also a school board workshop are being planned for July or August. Board President Bob Fox said he sees no reason to hold the retreat out of town, as in the past.

-- Administrators are considering at replacing a single-wide trailer with a double-wide trailer at Alma Schrader Elementary School to allow four sections of second grade instead of three.

Cape Girardeau Board of Education

Action

Monday, June 12

6 p.m.

Vocational Technical School, 301 N. Clark

Action items

-Approved a tentative budget, which is the 1994-95 budget of $21.1 million. The actual budget will be on the agenda in October.

-Business manager Steve DelVecchio was named board secretary.

-Superintendent's secretary Dorothy Statler was named board treasurer.

-An athletic budget of $148,938 was approved for the 1995-96 school year, a 2 percent increase from last year.

-The public tax rate hearing was set for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14.

-Authorized the superintendent to apply for state funds.