MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Condor Elementary School staff honored students kindergarten through sixth grade with performance and achievement awards during a ceremony at the school aboard the Combat Center, April 11, 2014.
Awards are presented to the students every trimester, and range from various accomplishments including honor roll, writing, perfect attendance, personal success, respect and more.
Along with the certificates, students also received gift cards to various diners in the Morongo Basin.
“My son received an award for honor roll and the Really Outstanding Condor Kid (ROCK) award,” said Gunnery Sgt. David Edger, transportation section chief, Marine Corps Logistics Operations Group. “I’m just really proud of him because I know how hard he works. He always pushes 100 percent, doesn’t let anything get him down, and strives to accomplish great things.”
As the awards are presented every trimester, the students who don’t receive awards have time to assess what they need to work on, and strive to achieve excellence for the next term.
“I set a goal for myself to get on the honor roll and I achieved that today,” said Julian Chenier, 11. “I worked really hard on my own and also had a lot of help from my family. My goal for the next semester is to be on the high honor roll, and achieve straight A’s.”
The trimester awards, which are given three times during the school year, are a good way to help teachers motivate their students to achieve higher academic and behavioral goals, according to Paul Gattuso, principal, Condor Elementary School.
“Our students here face unique challenges with parents sometimes being deployed,” Gattuso said. “On top of everything they may be going through at home, it shows true resiliency and adaptability on their part to earn these achievements.”
The school prides itself on its students, and describes them as ‘condorific’, which is a word created to describe their unique abilities and drive to become better people.
With the final trimester underway, students have one last opportunity this year to set the bar high, and achieve their goals.