Mascots and motorcycles

By April M. Silvaggio  

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 7:42 p.m. (0)

Some motivate students by getting pelted with whipped cream pies.

Others might spend 24 hours on a school’s rooftop, dressing for a day in a silly costume or going nose-to-nose with some species of barnyard animal.

Especially in middle school, many local principals know those are the kinds of rewards that go far beyond a handshake or a pat on the back.

At Greenville’s League Academy of Communication Arts, sixth, seventh and eighth graders are encouraged daily by Principal Merry Cox’s 4-year-old Shih Tzu Indy, short for Independence, who by all accounts is convinced the school is actually his home.

“I got him as a puppy, and he has grown up here,” Cox said. “So as far as he knows, this is his home.”

Far more than just a pet, Indy is an extra teacher.

“He helps teach patience, and the importance of being nice to animals,” Cox said. “I think he lowers blood pressure, too.”

Often, the pup can be found in the hallway with the daily schedule attached to his leash. When students are exceptionally good, a teacher might invite him to visit in the classroom.

“He is kind of like Howard’s Rock at Clemson,” Cox said. “Kids come by and rub him on the head, and their day goes better.”

Whatever antics a principal uses to motivate students, it is all on the path to a higher good, experts say. Especially for children in middle school, a little extra is often needed to push students to meet goals and show them that their teachers and principal care about their success.

“In elementary school, kids will try to do well simply to get the compliments from mom and dad and their teacher,” said Lee Givins, the principal at Northwest Middle School in Travelers Rest. “In high school, many will do well because they know graduation depends on it. But in middle school, they do what they do because of social pressures. It is all about their friends.”

That’s why Givins said he makes an extra effort to come across as a real person. Somebody they can talk with. Somebody they don’t want to let down.

A few years ago, during a pep rally of sorts to pump kids up for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests, Givins donned his leather jacket, skully cap and dark sunglasses and rode his Harley Davidson Sportster into the school gymnasium as a group of teachers rocked to a re-written version of The Shangri-Las “Leader of the Pack.”

“The kids went wild,” Givins said. “We actually did pretty good that year.”

It all comes down to showing middle schoolers that their principal has an investment in them, researchers say. Not to mention the fact that creative forms of motivation can actually build trust between principals and their students.

In other words, credibility improves after a principal has eaten a few fried worms.

While there hasn’t yet been a study of whether principal stunts result in better test scores or classroom behavior, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence from schools across Greenville County. Teachers can talk about the challenge to push the students a little further. Students work hard and are get excited when they get more out of school than the same old thing.

“Kids today are entertained by computers, texting and TV,” Givins said. “They get all of this input from other places, and when they get to school it is like going from MTV to Mister Rogers. If we don’t do something to keep them engaged they are going to get really bored.”

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