Renaissance program installs new rewards

Gage Wente/Staff Writer

Last semester, the continuation of the school Renaissance program was called into question. The decision to continue the program was made at the end of semester, with a few changes in mind.
“We’re going to try to do a number of things,” counselor Ryan Flaherty said. “We have coupon books that we’ll give out to Renaissance students, as well as rotating parking passes to parking spots in the faculty lot. We might also give out gift cards to Four Queens and other places at the end of the semester.”

The coupon books, which all students with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher will receive, are Jostens Platinum Program books. Because Jostens is a national company, not all of the coupons are to local stores. Stores such as Pizza Hut and Great American Cookies are included, though, as well as other local stores.

“That’s pretty cool,” sophomore Scott Sesterhenn said.

“I don’t know how they’re going to rotate four parking spots between so many people, but if it works it’ll be pretty awesome. I don’t know how much I’ll use the coupon book, but it’s always good to be rewarded for getting good grades,” Sesterhenn said.

In previous years, students who met the extensive requirements to be eligible for the highest level of Renaissance were able to exempt themselves from class finals. The school board has made the decision to discontinue the test exemption program.

“There were several reasons,” Flaherty said. “There were problems administering it. Students weren’t turning them in on time. Teachers weren’t honoring them. It became more of a hassle than it was worth.”

There were more reasons than inconvenience, though.

“We like to have kids taking finals so we can evaluate how classes went. It helps teachers know that they wrote their final well.”

Senior Michael Rogers disagrees with the program’s discontinuation. “That’s really lame. If I’d worked so hard to get good grades, I’d be pretty mad if they got rid of the reward. If you’re doing that good, there’s no real point in taking the final anyway,” Rogers said. “I guess the gift certificates and stuff are cool, though.”

 

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