When Principal Paul Barker first announced the start of the button competition with such enthusiasm, I rolled my eyes and laughed. A button competition? What, are we five years old?
As students walked out the gymnasium doors at the conclusion of the back to-school-assembly, teachers passed out the first of four buttons that would be handed out during the next four weeks. I absentmindedly picked up a JC logo button for myself and slipped it into my skirt pocket, not realizing how popular this contest would become.
Over the next few days, students in my homeroom showed up wearing the first button that actually had to be earned. For some reason, I was somewhat jealous of their black “compelling” button. I found myself wondering: what did they do that was so compelling, and how can I earn my first button?
I couldn’t believe how popular the button competition I had once believed to be childish had become. In the hallways, everyone from freshmen to seniors compared his or her buttons and chattered about how so-and-so stopped by the cafeteria and passed out candy to the button earners.
Students’ response to the button competition is a great indicator of this year’s school spirit. The button concept to promote school unity was a risky idea on the school’s part— kids could have seen it as a cheesy attempt at getting everyone to remember and support the new school motto: compelling, considerate, uncompromising.
Instead, students are showing genuine excitement. In my Spanish class, students swapped buttons—which might have been beside the point of the competition—and begged for our teacher to hand out more. I, along with other students, originally hid my buttons in my pocket, but seeing the school’s reaction has led all of us to wear the black, gold, and white buttons loudly and proudly.
This competition is based solely on a student’s character, and it rewards the students who act as models of the motto. Being an honors student or a star athlete offers no advantages. For the first time, there is an equal opportunity for anyone to prove themselves worthy of a button and win.
There are probably some students who still scoff at this contest. I don’t know about them, but the promise of candy and the possibility of winning a prize just for earning four buttons holds my attention.
Jenny Hottle can be reached for comment at [email protected].