When the kindergarten through second grade students at Lincoln School in Macomb work hard and treat people right, they get rewarded with Bomber Bucks, which are redeemable at the building’s SOAR store.
“Students collect these Bomber Bucks and then they’re able to go in our store – it’s a big classroom with a lot of different stuff in it, a lot of stuff that’s very appealing to five, six, and seven year olds – they’re able to go in that store and take those Bomber bucks that they earned and buy things,” said Principal Eric Bryan.
“They really look forward to that and it means something to them.”
Bryan said the store stocks goods such as stickers, clothing, and stuffed animals.
“Kids love stuffed animals. We have little beanie babies all the way up to life-sized teddy bears,” he said. “In our kids’ eyes, it’s treasure.”
Bryan said it’s better to provide incentives for good behavior than to berate students for bad behavior.
SOAR is an acronym for Stay safe, Own your behaviors, Act responsibly, Respect everyone.
“And that’s something we preach every day,” Bryan said.
The SOAR store is new this school year. Lincoln staff added the store with some of the space that became available in the building when the school district shifted grades around after the new middle school opened in August.
Third grade students moved from Lincoln to Edison School, sixth graders moved from Edison to the middle school, and seventh and eighth graders moved from the high school building to the new middle school.
Bryan said in addition to the SOAR store, the staff at Lincoln used the extra space to add two classrooms and to move the art and music programs into the building. Those had been held in a modular unit.
Lincoln School also created sensory and intervention rooms.
“We have a lot of kids who benefit from smaller group instruction,” Bryan said, adding that it’s better to have rooms for students in these cases instead of having things done off to the side in a classroom or in a hallway.
He said you can feel the difference by having a less congested building -- there is not as much stress and everyone is happier.
“When our students are happier, they learn better and they act better,” Bryan said.
“When our teachers are happy, they teach better. They’re more productive. It’s created a better environment.”
He said school staff spent a couple years developing plans for the extra space. They came up with a lot of ideas, and implemented many of them all at once.
Bryan also said he misses the third grade students – he enjoyed having them at Lincoln. But he said the move has allowed the school staff to do more things.
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