Everyone wants to be a star, or at least have a star. It started for me at a very early age. My kindergarten teacher was really a big star fan. She had this big board and tracked all the fantastic things that we did with stick-on stars. Everyone wanted stars. Sometimes when we were really special, we got a star placed on our forehead or nose. Well, at least most of the other kids did.

It’s funny, but our lapel stars are our biggest seller. I don’t know if it’s because they are so versatile or if it’s just that everyone knows that stars are special. Many programs use them for attendance. If you haven’t missed a class this month, you’ve earned a star. Many other programs use them as medals of excellence. They worked in kindergarten and they still work today. If you have someone you wish to award for their stellar qualities this is a great little incentive. Everyone loves stars.

This is one of my favorite pins. Too many students have had a bad experience in school. Too many students have taken this previously poor experience, internalized it, and allowed it to shake their confidence and even weaken the old self-esteem. Good teachers know the importance of confidence and that success does breed success. Good teachers also know the power of celebrating a student’s success.

When teaching, I always use to arrange a project where I knew all my students would experience success. This would be done during the very early stages of my class. It might be something simple, such as learning how to do CPR.

Upon successfully completing the project, the class would hold a ceremony where the students would be awarded their The Key is ME pin. My students learned to believe that they were indeed the key. That they, the students, can make things happen and that they do hold real power in their success and future.

Yes, another favorite pin of mine. Research has shown that there are two major factors for both student retention and success. The first is that the student believes there is at least one faculty member who really cares about their success. And the other is that there is at least one other student in the class that they are able to talk to.

This alone is a strong enough reason for starting a peer mentoring program in your classroom. The Students Helping Students pin is an excellent way to get your students excited about helping out their neighbors. A bonus is that the helping student also gains an even stronger grasp of the material. A true win/win.

The Lamp of Learning, also called the Lamplighter, is a great pin to use when the light switches on. Making the abstract concrete has always been a difficult task for instructors. Understanding the abstract as concrete has always been a challenge for students, when it occurs, it is time to celebrate. An unexpected concrete memento of this event means a lot and will be worn with both remembrance and pride.

Celebrate the student. Celebrate the success. A symbol retains the event. The Lamplighter helps turn students on to learning.

The symbol of the medical profession, this pin is frequently given after the first half of the medical program or as some other milestone in the program is completed. Teachers often forget how long, how unending, how dark the educational program tunnel can be to their students. On a road trip you always look for the halfway point. Descending in an elevator you watch the floors tick by, it gives you a sense of going somewhere, an expecting sense of arrival.

Setting up and celebrating recognized milestones in your program promotes a positive feeling of forward motion and success. It shows that graduation is a real possibility and that it is quickly coming.

The Acorn pin comes in plain, a blue stone, and a red stone. Taken from the concept “The mighty oak from an acorn grows,” can be used in many ways -

This is how one admission department used it. Students referred by other students are great prospects for a school. One admissions department gave an acorn pin to any student who referred a friend or relative that enrolled. Other students quickly noticed the students who were wearing acorn pins and asked how they could get in on the action. Soon the school’s referral acorn network did resemble the expanding branches of that mighty oak tree.

Oh yes, if a student got a second successful referral, they got to choose either a blue stone or red stone acorn. Very pretty, very nice. Also, very coveted.