European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Schools Hope pizza Perks free food just one incentive for Young scholars to Excel education by Ron Jensen Niernberg Bureau Katterbach Germany a successful scholarship at Ansbach Middle and High schools is now Worth free pizza and burgers special washroom privileges and a shot at a free class ring. The school ushered in the first 110 members of its Renaissance program recently an Honor for those receiving Good grades or showing academic improvement. A a it san incentive program for children to do better in school a said Mikki Garcia a special education teacher who is on the program committee. The rewards include free food at base outlets priority pick of a locker a five minute Early release and lunch one Day a week. There is even a special restroom for the most elite club members. A the teachers gave up one of their bathrooms a Garcia said. The program rewards pupils with a Grade Point average of 3.0 or above and those who improve their Grade Point by half a Point during a grading period. The top Reward is for those pupils who earn a 3.5 spa or better. The better a Pupil does the More rewards he or she receives. For example a youngster who boosts his or her spa by half a Point to receive a Cougar card gets recognition in the Community newsletter but does not get mentioned on the commissary scroll Board an Honor for Gold card members those with a 3.5 or better spa. Grades Are not the Only criteria. Behaviour a in be a make or break Factor in club membership. A there Are some kids that Are not being honoured today who earned the grades but received suspensions or detentions a said Gary Mccauley a Counselor at the school. The first initiates into the program seemed pleased with the Honor and Felt it a worthwhile program. A More people will want to get it because you get so much stuff a said Christopher Stephens a senior who received the Blue card for a spa of Between 3.0 and 3.49. Vanessa Mercado a Junior who received a Gold card said a i done to need it. I can do it on my own. But it does give some  Chang you a senior Gold card Holder said the recognition for academic Success is valuable. One of the Cougar card holders for improving his Grade Point average by one half Point was Joseph Sedlacek a senior. A to Tell you the truth i did no to know i was going to get anything a he said. A it shocked  in All the schools first Renaissance membership list includes about 30 percent of the student body. Diane Murphy the principal is surprised the membership is that High but expects to see it grow. A we were thinking wed have 75 kids and we had 110,�?� she said. A a we a like to see 50 percent of the student body next  the Renaissance program is 1 year old at Heidelberg High school. Roger Mac Ray Deputy principal credits the incentive program with swelling the membership list from 300 to 470 in that year. A we would like to think its been an Ron Jana Roger Higgins a freshman at Ansbach High school is welcomed into the Renaissance program by principal Diane Murphy. Incentive a Macray said. The program at Heidelberg has a few differences. It has four categories including one rewarding pupils with Grade Point averages of 2.5 or better plus the improvement category. Macray said some pupils claim the systems incentives Are lacking. A a we re a Little bit disappointed that there a this a you re not giving a not me enough a a he said. But those pupils arc a oing to do the work needed for Mem ers nip in the Renaissance program no matter what the rewards he said. And he said such incentives for learning Are not the final answer for inspiring pupils. Quot somewhere along the was you have to develop that within yourself a he  prints show you care for Sas staff sgt. Sam Shoraji airman 1st class Amy Somes of the 81st Security so at Raf Ben Waters England shows a love prints id cards to preschoolers. The cards Are designed to identify lost or missing children. They Are available from the red Cross in a program with other base agencies. Each card contains the child a photo two fingerprints physical data such As the child a height and weight and the parents  delaying preschoolers entry into first Grade by the new York times in the 1950s, when the children of the baby Boom were in elementary school being yield Back for a year was an indelible Mark of failure while being the youngest in class was sometimes considered a sign of brilliance. Now that the Boomers themselves Are parents everything has changed. Recent studies show that since the mid-l980�?Ts a rapidly increasing number of parents Are choosing to Send their children through an extra year of preschool so that they enter kindergarten As 6-year-Olds, a year after the Normal Start time in most states. While the practice is most common among affluent families who Are acting voluntarily it is increasingly being used by Public school officials to hold Back primarily poor and minority children deemed unprepared. Indeed the extra year has become so common so quickly that a backlash has set in some prominent educators argue that it is misguided and some policy makers add that it is a capricious misuse of scarce resources when Public schools provide extra year programs. Quot re shirting a they Call it borrowing the term used in College athletics when students Are held Back to let them develop physically or to give them an extra year of eligibility. A education issues tend to go in cycles and today a parents Are holding their children Back because they think it is a Way to insure academic Success just As parents of earlier decades pushed theirs ahead for the same reason a said Joe l. Frost an education professor at the University of Texas in Austin. Both practices fro6t said a go against a lot of evidence that children do Best when they Are kept close to their age