In the 400 hallway, there is a new display on the wall that was painted by the art teachers Ashley Burnett and Sara Mccan.
There are picture frames in each month’s slot for the pictures of students that are chosen for student-of-the-month. There is also a spot for faculty.
The student-of-the-month wall is part of Principal Matt Davis’s plan to start acknowledging students more often in school while adding some decoration to the white walls.
“(I noticed) this is something that’s been needed here for a long time,” Davis said. “It decorates the school, it’s clean, it looks good, and we need to recognize you (all).”
Davis had an idea of how he wanted the design to look. He gave it over to Burnett and Mccan to work with.
“I had that idea and let the art teachers run with it because, I mean, what better creativity than your art teachers,” Davis said. “I really appreciate what the art teachers did and of course, the art teachers worked hard doing this.”
Each month, the school is going to have a committee come together to choose the student of the month.
Davis said that, when choosing, they will be looking at character, community service, academic success, effort, and more.
Davis said that to be chosen out of around 1070 other students is an honor, especially because there are only seven spots for now.
“To get this is going to be a huge honor and we want to recognize, in front of the whole student body, that particular student and what they have accomplished,” Davis said.
When a student is chosen, they will be not only recognized but given a t-shirt, coupons for the Life Cafe and possibly other rewards.
So the money they use for these projects is going back to the students in a different form.
The administration is working on adding things to give Chapman more spirit and to make the staff and students more prideful.
“We’re trying to make it more student-friendly by taking it and making it aesthetically appealing,” Davis said.
He expresses his opinion that the school does not recognize students enough.
“Sometimes we have to deal with some negative things, and we have so many positive things, and we don’t focus on the positive sometimes and I think this is one way administration can really focus on the positive,” Davis said.
He says that he had already been working on ideas for Chapman since last year, though the idea of student and faculty of the month has already been around for a while in other schools.
“I think it’s a big deal but that’s just one little phase. I have plans for this entire school. This is just a spring towards other things that you will see happening over the next few years,” Davis said.
