Report Card Bingo

Fieldcrest High School rewards students who earn good grades by allowing them to use their report cards as lottery tickets in order to win cash and other prizes:

Under the "Hooray for As" program, students at the central Illinois school will be allowed to submit report cards with As and Bs into a random drawing.

Several report cards will be selected after each of the four grading periods, and those students will get $10 for each A and $5 for each B.

"It's a small thing, but every little bit helps. It's a nice little pat on the back and it's recognition," said Fieldcrest High School Principal William Lapp. "Even if we get two or three kids to be motivated, it's a success."

Local banks are providing financial backing for the program.

If they can attract enough funding, school officials hope to offer the "Hooray for As" program to students in the district's elementary and middle school, too.

Another new program will honor a senior of the month with a $50 savings bond. At the end of the year, one senior will receive a $250 scholarship.

"Extracurricular programs have that natural recognition because you have a thousand people at a football game on a Friday night. The challenge is recognition for academics," said Superintendent Randy Vincent. "The more schools do to focus on academic reward and recognition, the better off they're going to be."

I actually like this idea, as it is being sponsored by members of the business community and rewards kids who attend school and earn good grades. Such community involvement is usually limited to promoting athletics or, possibly, band boosterism. I have to give an "A" to Fieldcrest's principal for getting this done. ---------------------------This week's Carnival Of Education midway will open here Wednesday. Carnival submissions are due by 9:00 PM (Pacific) tonight. Send them to owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. See our latest posts here.