The week of Oct. 18-20, NRHEG students Natalie Johnson and Corbin Delacruz were recognized for being "original." Here, Natalie cuts Secondary Principal David Bunn's tie. Corbin cut Mr. Domeier's during the junior high lunch.
By Malu Monrreal
Panther Press
Under a program meant “to recognize some of those students who don’t always stand out with perfect grades or as great athletes,” NRHEG teacher Mark Domeier and secondary principal David Bunn allow a student to cut their ties, and then spend the rest of the day wearing the newly-sculptured “art.”
Domeier, who manages the program, explains that every week a different adjective is chosen, for example, “creative” or “energetic.” Staff members then nominate students who personify the word; all staff members are asked to vote for their selected nominees. At the end of the week the student who has the most votes cuts the tie during lunch time.
Domeier remembers that this system was used at the school before: “We actually did this about ten years ago for a couple of years...in an effort to recognize a vast swath of our students for positive characteristics…”
When asked whether he likes to participate in cutting the tie, he said “It’s fun to see the reaction of kids, both when they realize they’ve been nominated and the actual winners.” He adds that “the response in the Middle School has been really good…”
Mr. Bunn is in charge of Cut the Tie in the High School area. He remembers that the previous version “was a pretty popular thing, and the staff and students really liked it.” Furthermore, after having school online for so long because of the pandemic, Mr. Bunn wanted to bring some positivity back into the school. He says “we’ve all been through a lot these past few months….we need positive things that we can look forward to at school.”
Bunn says that cutting the tie is a good incentive for good behavior because “it allows students to be recognized by staff members by being nominated.” He also admits that he enjoys the tradition because he wants to see students recognized for “...certain personality traits.”
This week’s Cut the Tie winners, nominated for being “original,” were Natalie Johnson from the High School and Corbin Delacruz from the Middle School.
Natalie Johnson is a senior at NRHEG High School, she says that “it was the weirdest thing I have experienced.”
Natalie got to cut Mr. Bunn’s tie in front of the office during lunch time prior to MEA weekend. She says she was very surprised to be selected: “I don’t think I deserved it, there are so many other people that could have won it.” But the staff disagreed because they chose her by nominating her with the most votes.
Natalie says that she doesn’t know if she is “original” outside of school, she just loves being herself all the time.
Corbin Delacruz received the most votes as a junior high student who is “original,” and so got to cut Mr. Domeier’s tie during lunchtime. It seems as if Cutting the Tie is an incredible tradition carried out by the NRHEG Public Schools. It inspires students to be better, and staff members enjoy acknowledging the range of positive characteristics students have, and being appreciated for their standout personality traits.