Originally, students would have to wait for a 25 minute period before leaving seminar. But upperclassmen who have achieved high grades have been rewarded with the opportunity to gain some of those minutes back.
Juniors and seniors who have received A’s and B’s during first semester are now being rewarded with a Gold Card. Gold Cards allow students to leave their seminar classrooms as soon as announcements are over to see a teacher or visit the ARC. However, Gold Cards can be taken away if a student receives a grade lower than a C in any class.
If students want to leave early, seminar rules still apply. Students must leave with their booklet and ID. They are also required to show their Gold Card to their seminar teacher before leaving to show that they are allowed to move early.
“[Students] still have access to all the other resources but are able to leave a little bit earlier to get work done,” Special Education Division Head Brenda Martin said.
In addition, the school has opened up a Chill Zone in the cafeteria, which is open to students
with a Gold Card on the designated lanyard. Students must be wearing their Gold Card as proof that they can work in this designated area. The purpose of the Chill Zone is to have a place for students to work on projects in groups if need be. Otherwise, it can be used simply as a spot to “chill” during seminar as a reward for high-achieving students.
In the past, the ARC has been known to be extremely crowded. It is the hope that Rolling Meadows hopes that the ARC will become less congested because Gold Card students can move earlier. By the time all students are able to move, those with a Gold Card will already have gotten the help they need. As a result, teachers will be able to give more attention to students with lower grades rather than all students at once.
Although this program is only open to juniors and seniors, Rolling Meadows hopes to extend it to freshmen and sophomores next year. So far, between 250 and 260 out of 1,000 upperclassmen qualify for the Gold Cards.
“I think this will motivate many students this semester in order to receive one in the fall of 2015,” senior Macy Serna said.
The Gold Cards are still part of a pilot program, and this system is far from finished. The seminar
committee is currently looking at how AP classes should be factored into this program as well. There haven’t been any decisions made yet, so revisions may occur next year.
Many teachers welcome the addition of Gold Cards to the seminar curriculum.
“I think it’s a good idea to reward students who are doing well in school academically,” French teacher Sara Kahle-Ruiz said.
Math and Science Division Head Robert Bowers, who is also on the seminar committee, believes that students have benefitted from the Gold Cards.
“It’s nice to get a privilege, like being able to move 15 minutes early, but it is more important for others to see the Gold Card,” Bowers said. “It represents that the person wearing it on a lanyard around their neck has worked hard to achieve success in all of their classes.”
Students are also giving positive reviews of the Gold Cards now that they have more time to get work done.
“I think the Gold Card is the best change we have made to seminar since I started at Rolling Meadows,” senior Josh Thompson said. “I think it is a great way to reward the students that have worked really hard to get good grades.”