A King’s Crowns

One of the first lessons the young men in our Prince Charming program learn is accountability. Before any lesson is taught or session begins, students are asked to sign the “Student Contract,” and asked to receive the “King’s Promise,” which they are also required to recite aloud. Students promise to always give their best effort, to
always represent themselves and their community in the best way possible, and to be a leader among their peers.

One of the ways we teach the young men learn about accountability is by earning crowns. The young men earn crowns for exemplary citizenship and performing well in school. A usually silent 4th grade student at Tuggle Elementary School, Raheem, enthusiastically informed us during last Friday’s session that he would earn his crowns by “studying harder, so that I will make better grades, and I’m gonna teach my other classmates how to dance, because I can dance really well, and I don’t want them to feel bad if they don’t know how to.” Raheem’s friend Daniel also wanted to earn crowns by improving his grades, but he also had other motivations, “I want to get as many crowns as possible by helping others get crowns, so if I’m good at math or reading or something, I’m gonna help them out so that they can get more crowns also.”

Students receive crowns for various things including, but not limited to; active participation in weekly sessions, honor roll, and acts of kindness. They can earn up to 3 crowns in one session, and 50 crowns in a semester. If you’d like to learn how you help young man in our Prince Charming program earn his crown, visit www.growingkings.org/12×12. By contributing to our 12×12 campaign, you will ensure our students have access to the materials needed for them to excel in mathematics and literacy.