David M. Morris doesn’t believe in working for nothing.
So the 17-year-old junior at Newton North High School near Boston has put together a coupon book as a reward for students. The book offers $250 in pizzas, movie tickets, and other gifts and will go to any Newton North High student who makes this spring’s honor roll.
“The reality is that parents don’t work for free, why should kids?” Mr. Morris said.
“At first, I didn’t believe it would make a real big difference,” he said of the coupon book. “But the reality is, I hear people say they will work a little harder to get on the roll.”
Mr. Morris, the former advertising manager of the school newspaper, the Newtonite, also has raised $10,000 from local companies for a scholarship fund as part of his project to reward and motivate his classmates.
Mr. Morris said he wants to go national with his program, which he would like to call “Learn and Earn.” His motto: “Hard work pays off.”
Fear that a raucous congregation could spoil a peaceful graduation has divided a Vermont town over which is the sweeter summer sound: “Pomp and Circumstance” or “Truckin.”
So the Highgate, Vt., select board will decide this week whether the Grateful Dead will play a concert at a local high school the day before commencement.
Missisquoi Valley Union High School officials say everyone should understand why the concert’s timing could be disruptive. Residents of the district have voted against the June 15 gig, but students have rallied around the band.
Concert promoters have their eyes on New York. They say if the school won’t stage the show, they’ll take the act to Buffalo.
Carter Loar, the Virginia high school student whose mouthwash got him suspended, has returned to school with a clean slate. The 17-year-old did nothing wrong when he used mouthwash at school, officials of the Loudoun County, Va., district decided last week, because a school policy barring beverages that contain alcohol does not specifically include mouthwash.
Mr. Loar was suspended after a teacher saw him with Cool Mint Listerine--which he said was intended to freshen his breath and help him get a date. (See Education Week, March 1, 1995.)
--Robert C. Johnston & Lonnie Harp
