Over this summer the MuHS leadership class, led by Ms. Brooks, won platinum recognition at a global conference in Texas from the Jostens Renaissance program for promoting our schools culture and atmosphere. This class plans all the fun activities the school does such as pep rallies, homecoming, prom and other events.

Ms. Brooks stated, “Going to that conference definitely filled my cup. This is only the second time I have gone in person, before that I had gone 3 virtual times, but you learn a lot of different ideas down there, and so many ways to better your school.”

The application process to become a platinum school was extensive, requiring hours of dedication and work. According to Brooks, the final application was around twenty eight pages of everything the class had done the previous year with different criteria needing to be identified depending on which level they applied for. Last year they got silver and this year they got platinum.

To get platinum the class held several events that promoted great school culture. A “Renaissance Rally” that they did last school year in January was one example. There they recognized students for the different “R’s” of Renaissance like perfect attendance, academics, or being a good citizen. They also did a pep rally for the teachers on their first day back, a blood drive in March, and a fundraiser for the “Make a Wish” foundation where they raised between $3,500 and $4,500 dollars. There’s a bunch of things they have to be hitting and the commitment to graduate.

When they won platinum, it proved that they were doing things for the students and Staffulty to get excited to be at school. Ms. Brooks said, “Renaissance is very much grounded on the belief that you want to make school a place that Staffulty want to be and students learn. So I think having platinum, it was like all of the work that we had been doing had paid off.”

Each year the application must be renewed, so just because they have platinum now doesn’t mean they will have it next year. The class is working on adding at least one new piece to the criteria and they are making sure they have at least two people that are leading the program and they have an entire team.

In addition, Brooks mentioned that they are working towards bringing back the little things, “Because sometimes they get so engulfed in trying to plan something big all the time they they often forget that sometimes something as simple as ‘You were here, here’s a goody bag for you, thank you for being here today’ is going to make a difference in somebody’s life.”

Overall, the group is happy seeing what they learned being put to use throughout this new school year. and what they want to bring back to the school.