Better Grades in the Cards for Mississippians

Many elementary and high school students here never leave home without it.

Take 11-year-old Mike Burt, typical of those who possess a very special kind of gold card entitling them to discounts at certain local stores and restaurants.

“When I was in fifth grade, I had Bs and Cs,” he said. “Now that I’m in sixth grade I’m getting all A’s because of the gold card.”

Mike is part of a unique motivational program designed to enhance the academic achievement of 3,000 students in seven rural schools here.

The brainchild of Forrest County District Superintendent Walter Cartier and second-grade teacher Martha Williams, the program was begun in 1986. Already, they say, there has been a 50% increase in straight-A students and marked improvement in grades for more than one-third of the district’s students.

Straight-A students receive a laminated gold card entitling them and their family members to discounts ranging from 10% to 50% at 25 Hattiesburg businesses.

Report cards are issued four times a year or every nine weeks at the district’s five elementary and two high schools. There were 179 straight-A students before the program began. That figure jumped to 295 after the program’s first nine weeks. Last November there were 427 straight-A students.

A Silver Card for Some

“Of course, not every boy or girl is able to achieve straight A’s,” said Williams, 30, who teaches at Dixie School. “Those unable to earn a gold card receive silver cards if they show improvement in their studies, receive no Fs and have good conduct.”

About 600 students are awarded silver cards, entitling them to discounts at 13 Hattiesburg businesses, including camera shops, drugstores, fast-food restaurants and department, clothing and sporting goods stores.

“It’s helping all the kids,” said Sidney Gilbert, 8, a second-grader who was getting his hair cut at Robin Geter’s barbershop. “My mom and dad like it because my gold card saves them money. My dad gets his haircut here at half price when he comes with me.”

The program motivates students to achieve and encourages parents to motivate their children, said Linda Steele, 46, principal of Dixie Elementary School. “Parents are very excited about the program, knowing their children are working harder in school, and they like those discounts at the stores.”

She said underachievers, especially, are showing improvement. “Many of the boys and girls who were getting Ds and Fs are now getting Cs.”

Cartier and Williams were sitting around talking one day, thinking of ways to motivate their students. “Martha mentioned how kids get excited when their parents bring them something special from the store,” recalled Cartier, 59. “We thought, let’s reward them somehow for good work.

“The idea struck us that if we could get local merchants to give discounts to students who improved, we could involve the whole community in a scholastic program. And, here we are.”

Thirty other school districts have since adopted similar programs.

Bob Chain, 58, former Hattiesburg mayor and appliance store owner, donated $1,400 to purchase a camera to help create the laminated cards and paid for the cards’ printing as well.

Payoff for Hard Work

Said Joel Breland, 41, owner of the barber shop that gives discounts to gold and silver card holders and their families: “It shows the kids that working hard pays off. It makes a winner out of them. It helps my business, too, by bringing in a lot of new customers even though they don’t pay as much.”

Virginia Aborom, 16, a high school junior and class vice president, has earned straight A’s since the program began. “A gold card makes you feel good about yourself,” she said.

Robert Lyon, 16, a junior who wants to become an Air Force pilot, said, “I’ve got my grades up to Bs and A’s. I’ll guarantee you I’ll get a gold card next time.”

Senior Angel Saucier, 18, doesn’t have a gold card yet, but he’s trying. “You get a gold card,” he said, “and you can sit up and be recognized.”