As school days edged closer and closer to summer, one class of third grade students at South Ridge Elementary School got a special treat: each of them became the Class VIP for a day. “I figured this would be a fun way to end this crazy and challenging year,” teacher Dana Swensson said. With three weeks of school left, she decided to give each one of her students a very special day.
Swensson made a class bulletin board with 21 pieces of bright paper, one for each student. Then she attached a balloon to each piece of paper. Every morning, the class gathered to pop a balloon, and the name revealed underneath became that day's VIP and was celebrated for the whole day. “Kind of like a second birthday,” Swensson laughed.
The VIP student of the day received a special badge. Their desk got fun decorations, and they got to sit in the teacher’s chair. And there were special privileges for the day, including getting to take your shoes off and getting free choice time. The VIP of the day was the line leader any time they left the classroom and got to choose the GoNoodle videos. For third graders, having this many privileges in one day is a very big deal.
In addition to all the special VIP treatment, the students each received a goodie bag filled with a notebook, a pencil, a toy, and some sweet treats. And for a personal touch, there was a page filled with compliments from all the other students in the class and from Swensson.
The students went wild for the daily VIP event. A chance for the young students to be treated like royalty for a day was special, and they were super excited.
“This was a lot of work to put together,” Swensson said, “but so much fun and was definitely worth it. It was a positive way to recognize my awesome kiddos! And I’ll be doing it every year from now on.”