South students have recently begun receiving positive ‘kudos cards’ in the mail as an acknowledgement of their good behavior and academic performance. Students are happy to be praised, but some have questions about just what the card signifies.

English teacher Kathleen Mills is responsible for the resurgence of the cards, which were commonly used 10 years ago at South. When Mills found an old stack of them in her desk, she thought it would be a good idea to start the rewards back up again as a way to let parents know about the positive things their children do.

“I remember that my son’s P.E. teacher from Jackson Creek called me last year, and when you first hear ‘This is your son’s teacher’ you think ‘What went wrong?’ It made me think about how it would be nice to change that vibe so when a parent hears from a teacher it could be positive or negative,” Mills explained.

Mills then mentioned the idea to principal Mark Fletcher, who thought it was a good idea, so they printed up a newer version of the card and distributed a stack to the teachers.

One concern students had upon learning about the kudos cards was that the cards were going to replace the beloved Panther Plus awards. Mills says that’s not the case; the two reward systems will work together.

“I was always a little frustrated with Panther Plus awards because you can only give one out per class,” Mills said, adding that she thinks the kudos cards will reach more students and can “compliment something small, but significant,” such as improving on short-term assignments and other accomplishments that you can immediately send praise home about.