Ask the Principal
What is a Brick and how do they work?
The Tigers Wall of Fame is our way of recognizing students among their peers when they demonstrate characteristics that we value as a school.
The idea is to recognize things we want to see more of and to present the good example for their peers. So, at our monthly assemblies teachers who have recognized these positive behaviors in their classrooms announce a few students each month who will be receiving a brick. After the assembly each class spends a few minutes discussing the bricks and good deeds, instilling in the class a sense of willingness to work towards achieving them themselves.
We then print off a brick with the students name, picture and why they received it and place it on the wall. The wall of fame is a metaphor as all the positive acts (bricks) combine to build a wall of famous people. When we ask the student to stand and be celebrated among their peers they beam with pride and the rest of the students are excited for them.
The categories for bricks are Character (eg. honesty, empathy, perseverance), Competence (academic success or improvement), Community (being helpful, volunteering) and Creativity (Art, Music, fine arts). This program is not awards, but rather an intrinsic motivation that the student receives for contributing in a positive way to their school, and a way of celebrating this inside the Tiger family.
Parents are welcome to attend any of our assemblies and celebrate with us but are not notified ahead of time of the bricks as this time is for the students to create a school culture and pride for being part of the school. Also, it makes it even more special when students happily show their parents their brick on the wall when they do come into the school. This act itself creates a sense of pride and more fully showcases the character traits we are trying to instill. It’s the bulletin board you first see coming in our front doors. We feel to keep it simple, genuine and meaningful for the kids we need to keep it for the kids and not make it too big of a fanfare outside of the students.
This year we will be printing 2 bricks for every child, one to go on the wall and another for the child to take home as a keepsake.