When Delran High School Principal Daniel Finkle came to the school district several years ago, he noticed the high school didn’t recognize what students had achieved academically. While the school had previously honored its athletes, Finkle felt that it was equally important to do the same for students in the classroom.
Along with the faculty, Finkle had an idea to recognize honor roll and Principal’s List students with a quarterly breakfast to further encourage academic success and honor students’ efforts within the quarter. The high school held its quarterly breakfast on Nov. 14 for students on the Principal’s List.
“I think the kids love it,” said Finkle. “Many of the kids here will be sitting down doing their homework while they’re eating, which is why they’re on the Principal’s List. I think recognizing them is extremely important.
“I think in Delran we do a great job recognizing our athletes, but we’re a high school first,” he insisted. “Recognizing our students’ academic achievements is the most important thing.”
Finkle said Delran has two lists to honor student academic achievement. The honor roll is for any student who receives an 80 or above in all classes. The Principal’s List recognizes students who receive a 90 or above in all of their classes.
While the breakfast was previously attended by both Principal’s List and honor roll students, the amount of students who were eligible grew to about 300 kids. The event would eventually become too costly, so the high school began to allow only the students who made the Principal’s List. The event has proven a big motivational factor as the amount of students making the Principal’s List increased over the years.
“There are 55 students who have earned 90 and above in all of their classes,” Finkle noted. “It’s something they want to do and it’s something that makes them feel good about themselves and they should. They worked hard and it’s not easy to get a 90 and above in every single one of your classes.
“They’ve certainly earned it.”
“I think there were only 23 seniors to get picked and that feels really cool,” said Delran High School student Abigail Stiglich.”They changed it up each time, so sometimes we get ice cream and stuff like that, but I personally haven’t had all As, which is pretty wild. Junior year was pretty difficult, but senior year has been easier for me.”
