In a push to help get students with exceptional needs graduation ready, Suwannee High School (SHS) administrators have come up with a new incentive to keep students motivated.

 

            Exceptional Student Education, or ESE Students, at SHS can be seen wearing black and white bracelets around campus. These bracelets have a short, but strong message on them, “Finish Strong.”

 

            The message and these bracelets are designed to keep students engaged in their schoolwork despite summer rapidly approaching. SHS Principal, Malcolm Hines, says, “The last 10 meters of a 100 meter dash is always the toughest.” The same idea is being applied here to the students and their schoolwork. “If you don’t finish strong it doesn’t matter what you have done up until then,” Hines says.

 

            The slogan, “Finish Strong” can apply to graduation for the ESE students but SHS assistant principal, Angie Stuckey, knows this slogan can apply to more than just graduating. “Our students can apply this saying to all walks of life,” Stuckey says.

 

            Facility and staff at SHS have noticed students wearing the bracelets and also have noticed the bracelets making a difference. Hines added, “It’s also a motivation tool for the staff, too. ‘Finish Strong’ applies to our teachers too and it reminds them there’s a job that needs to be done.”