[media-credit name=”Jordan Robins” align=”alignleft” width=”69″][/media-credit]by Samantha Libraty

Principal’s Student of the Month, which is part of Keys to Success, a program that recognizes Massachusetts students for random acts of kindness and/or increasing academic standing, was instated at this school starting yesterday, according to principal Jennifer Price.

It is an incentive-based program to motivate students, Keys to Success coordinator Michelle Roselli said at yesterday’s faculty meeting. The program is run by Honda Village Automotive Group, a car dealership that also has “a charity-based side which Keys to Success is part of,” she said.

At this school, “this award will recognize students for doing something unexpected,” Price said.

“This could be a student who turned it around academically, a student who went above and beyond or a student who simply did something to make this school a better place.”

Students will be nominated by teachers when a teacher notices something a student has done and wishes to recognize that student, she said.

“Students will be notified when they are nominated by a teacher. I will personally read the student’s nomination card to him or her, and he or she will then get to choose a prize,” Price said.

Prizes include gift cards and museum passes that are donated to Keys to Success by national and local businesses, according to Roselli.

The program will last the entire year, and students can win prizes twice a year, once in first semester, once in second semester, she said.

At the end of the year, 25 random students from this school and from South will be chosen to be finalists, Roselli said. Each finalist will receive a car key, and just one key will open a used car that is worth $5,000, she said.

The student who wins the used car can choose instead to get a five-thousand dollar scholarship to the college of his or her choice, she added.

Freshmen cannot win the car, but they can be nominated for other prizes, Price said.

“In addition to all of the prizes, if there are seniors who are going to Salem State University and are nominated for Principal’s Student of the Month, those students will receive a one-thousand dollar scholarship there,” Roselli said.

She added that Keys to Success is working on creating more collaborations with colleges and universities to provide bigger incentives for students.