The Student of the Month and Staff Member of the Month awards are back and now sponsored by “The Southerner” Online and the Gibson County SROs. It offers students and staff alike the opportunity to nominate a student or staff member to be recognized for the month. The first month that the program was run, the student selected for the month of October was senior Aiden Loveless. The first ever staff member selected was Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Jill Vieira.
“We were actually in the middle of child development, watching labor videos, when Eva Spindler knocked on my door and presented me with [the award],” Vieira said.
Though nominating a member of the school’s staffulty for Staff Member of the Month is available to students, it is not required of them. They have to sit down, write and tell “The Southerner” why that teacher deserves the recognition.
“Just knowing that there were certain students who thought enough to do that and take that time to sit down and write, it was fantastic,” Vieira said.
Loveless said he had no idea that the program was going on at all and was surprised to receive the recognition.
“It was quite surprising,” Loveless said. “I didn’t know that they were doing it at all, and I’m quite honored to receive it.”
Though this particular program is new, Titans said they hope to see it stay.
“I think that it’s a good way to have the students show appreciation for the teachers and let people know what good they’ve been doing,” Loveless said. “I think it’s a good program; I’m glad that we’re doing it.”
Along with the certificate from “The Southerner” Online, the Gibson County SROs award the student of the month $50 cash. Every student and staff member who is nominated receives a certificate denoting the nomination.
“We are looking for students and staff who stand out from the crowd a bit more, instead of someone who just comes to school, does their work, is nice to people, we are looking for someone who goes out of their way to rise to the top,” Spindler said.
Previous to this program, there was a Student of the Month recognition that was run by the company Walgreens. This program allowed Titans and students from other schools in close counties to be selected to be represented by the company as a student of the month.
“We have done a student of the month, but that was through Walgreens, that went away right before COVID-19, so we are glad that [the program] has started back up,” Gibson Southern Principle Jon Adams said.
“The Southerner” Online editor-in chief, senior Eva Spindler, and adviser Jared Grigsby brought the idea of the school paper sponsoring the Student of the Month Award and Staff Member of the Month Award to Adams who was receptive to the idea.
“I feel like it’s important to have some sort of recognition for students and staff members,” Spindler said. “It’s a good motivator, and it’s encouraging to be rewarded for your hard work and dedication.”
“We had talked about doing student of the month and anything that we can do to positively promote anything we’re doing in the building, is what we want to put out there,” Adams said.
Along with the Student and Staff Member of the Month awards, Adams also created the staff spotlight program to highlight Gibson Southern teachers. Every Monday on the official Gibson Southern social media accounts, there is a staff highlight with unique information that students and the community may not know about their teachers and staff.
“We have really good teachers here, and they deserve to be recognized for what they do here,” Adams said. “It’s an opportunity for our community and kids to see a different side.”
Gibson Southern students and staff will find the nomination emails in their inboxes throughout the school year.
