WHS’ new school motto is a great way to get students and teachers motivated to do something good for themselves and for their community!  A school motto should be something that encourages the community to become better people. After all, it’s created to make the school a better place, as well as to allow people to step out of their comfort zone and to try something new. Sometimes following a school motto can be stressful because you do not necessarily agree with it or you just do not care. The school motto is a good thing because it will hopefully help the school to become a place that everyone can enjoy.

The purpose of the new school motto, “R.E.A.C.H.” is to encourage students to become better people.  The “R” stands for respect. When you show respect for you and for others it creates a good environment. The “E” stands for empower. This means to grow as people and to follow your dreams. The “A” stands for achieve. This means to become a better student and a better person.  The “C” stands for create. This means using our prior knowledge to create new ideas and share our experiences with others. The “H” stands for honor. This means they should honor the community they are in.

Senior Antonia Killiany, believes that a lot of people do not follow the rules and do not show a lot of respect for one another. Killiany thinks having a school motto is a good way to encourage people to be respectful to each other, stating that, “R.E.A.C.H. is going to show people what it means to stand out and what it means to be respectful. The respect piece is an important part because respect is an important thing throughout the school.”  Junior Talar Kaya says, “ I think the school motto is unnecessary because, all the things that make it up are common sense. I do not think it will change much in the school.”

R.E.A.C.H. is similar to the middle schools motto “S.O.A.R.S.”. The only difference being that (in WMS) you received a prize for following the motto and wearing school colors. This created a community that awards someone for doing a good deed. For example, say a teacher saw you helping a student who dropped their books: you would receive a prize for helping that student out. The prize can be anything from a small toy or school supplies. “R.E.A.C.H.” and “S.O.A.R.S.” are similar to each other because they are both intended to get students and teachers more involved in the community of the school. These mottos were created because the schools need to improve to become a better place for everyone.

Mottos are important to have because a person can set goals that they want to follow or what they believe to be important to them. School mottos are created to improve the overall learning community and the general school environment. The new school motto, “R.E.A.C.H,” is a good way to get students and teachers involved in school events, and help out in their community. It can also help us grow as a community as well as individuals, and we can become a strong community that shows respect to all students and faculty no matter how different we may be.