Start Traditions

Start Traditions

Our lobby looks completely different now because it has evolved to let people know there is a whole lot of learning going on. Everyone knows it’s OK to brag about the great things happening in our school. We have since added banners that proudly display out school motto, mascot, and declare: “The First Renaissance School in Atlantic County.” Renaissance is a process I’ll talk about later.

And oh yeah, “The Belhaven Renaissance Wall of Acceptance.” We got that idea from the Holocaust Museum and the principles of 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Each graduating eighth grader creates art work with a quote. The piece is transferred to a six by six inch ceramic tile then glued to the wall. It’s colorful, creative, and the students have an opportunity to leave their legacy on the wall forever.

Each year we unveil the new section on the day of graduation. Everyone that walks by it stops to look. Walking into a cheery lobby makes people feel alive. It’s the WOW Factor!

Another tradition we started is retiring a t-shirt each year. That’s right, a t-shirt. Ten years ago we started the school year off with a theme for academic success. The theme culminates with an academic pep rally in the spring. The pep rally is similar to a sports pep rally but we celebrate hard work, academic success, great behavior, positive character, and leadership. The pep rally is another Renaissance tradition.

We got the idea of retiring a t-shirt from sports. If you ever saw a sports jersey being retired, it’s the same thing. Only again, we are celebrating academic success. The students look forward to celebrating their success and the leadership in our school.

When I was going through old pictures of our school, I noticed that each year started with a picture of the faculty. We reintroduced the tradition by inviting our Staffulty, (faculty and staff) to start off the year with a picture of us! The picture is made into a poster that proudly sits in our lobby each year.

What are your traditions?