Proud and Respectful Eagles SOAR at Eisenhower Intermediate This Month

An idea for a project that was devised by Eisenhower Principal Dr. Laura Bassett and a committee of 31 devoted teachers has taken off at the school.

“It was an idea to develop a school- wide expectation for all students to use a common language,” the enthusiastic Dr. Bassett said.

The project is SOAR and it has resulted in a sky-high response by the Eisenhower students, whose mascot is an eagle.

SOAR stands for Safety, Ownership, Acceptance, Respect. Each of these four titles includes the goals and achievements that the students strive to attain.

Posters were hung on the walls throughout the school and the ideals and principles of SOAR were discussed at assemblies and during lunch period while each morning the PA system would remind the students that “it is a great day to SOAR like an eagle.”

An extended homeroom of 45 minutes was installed once a month and lessons on social and emotional learning and character development were taught. The project also communicated to the parents in a newsletter, urging them to reinforce these lessons at home as well.

While the project was flying along quite well, Dr. Bassett and her Eagle Expectation Committee knew that they had to figure out how to get the students on board to accomplish this valuable flight.

So, the mission to survey the student body was launched by the Eisenhower Student Council, whose representatives picked the brains of their schoolmates in their homeroom to obtain ideas.

The overwhelming response was listing awards due to their fulfillment of supporting SOAR. Tickets would be rewarded to a student who demonstrates the ideals of any of the letters in SOAR.

According to Dr. Bassett, all staff members carry tickets with them so they can hand out any time during the school day.

This practice is referred to as “Caught SOARing.”

“Once the student receives a ticket, they write their name on the ticket and bring it to the main office,’’ she explained. “We have announcements weekly celebrating students who were caught SOARing.”

The tickets then are placed on the letters on the SOAR poster board that hangs in the main hallway.

The first letter to be filled is the first one, the S in SOAR, which led to reward for the students.

According to Dr. Bassett, every student in the school participated in a vote, and the responding winning choice was extended recess time, which was enjoyed by these Eagles on Thursday, March 14.

These birds lucked out, too, since the weather on this mid March day resembled a day in mid May that featured plenty of sunshine. The students soaked in the prime weather conditions and played numerous games on the school’s vast field, including volleyball.

Another display that adorns the walls at the school is a “Kindness SOARS at Eisenhower,” which are kind words on pieces of paper that students wrote. These warm-hearted messages form the wings of an eagle.

There are still three more letters in SOAR to fill and three more rewards to achieve for these Eagles before they have landed for the summer.

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