With the fresh start of the 2024-25 school year, Gig Harbor High School has adopted the reward system of “tide tickets.” These tickets are given to students by teachers for behavior that follows the Tide Way, which consists of being kind, engaged, and responsible. Students who follow these things are almost guaranteed to earn one of these slips. Every week on Friday, the school pulls 3-5 names from the box of tickets and reads them over the morning announcements to reward and celebrate the lucky students of the week who have shown that they know what it means to be a Tide. 2-3 names are also pulled from the teacher box to give them credit as well for being an essential part of our staff.

According to Mrs. Grant, our junior and senior vice principal, 50 tickets are given to each teacher every month in order to recognize those students who go above and beyond. “We wanted to make sure that teachers recognize those individuals, whether they be a student in their class or someone at lunchtime or at an athletic event, or maybe representing Gig Harbor High School in the community for really just standing out,” Grant said. Mrs. Hupper, one of our staff members, explained, “We want to recognize kids when we see them doing the things that meet the Tide Way norms. So when we see them doing something that stands out that’s specifically kind, when we see them doing something that’s specifically responsible, or we see a really good example of engagement, that’s what we were meant to give those things for.” In other words, students who put in the effort to help their peers and be a force for good in their community should and will be recognized through this new system of reward.

When students are drawn from the raffle at the end of the week, they are called down to the office for their reward. “We want the tickets to mean something, and we want to reward kids with hopefully things that they actually want. The idea is for the thing to actually stick. The tickets have to mean something, and attaching [them] to a reward of some sort that hopefully people actually want… just helps reinforce that positive behavior that we’re hoping to continue,” Hupper said. Grant explained that the reward system has to do in part with the size of our school and the large population that attends it. She said, “We have 1200 students here every day, and it’s an opportunity to really recognize all students for being supportive of each other because sometimes we forget to say thank you. We forget to recognize adults and students for doing what we ask them to do, and there are some kids that can start as a freshman, and at graduation, I don’t get the opportunity to get to know them as much as I would because I’m focusing on other parts of the job, and so it’s just really an opportunity that provides support to all students for doing what is expected, what’s right, what feels good, and what’s kind.”

The tide tickets have been utilized for about two months now and have been a fun way to show appreciation and recognition to our amazing students and staff who make an effort to live the Tide Way.