She looked high and low, asked around and searched for answers. Principal Penny Lefavour was looking for evidence of Woodway Elementary’s school colors.
But she couldn’t find any.
“I talked to people, and I looked at the student council constitution, where you’d think they’d be written down,” Lefavour said.
Still, her efforts resulted in vague findings.
She found that there was at one point a few designated colors, primarily dark teal green and a light silvery color, and that somewhere in the school there always seemed to be the color blue.
“But, it was nothing that was supported … and there was nothing like T-shirts or anything for kids or grown-ups,” Lefavour said.
After her first year as principal at Woodway, Lefavour felt she wanted to strengthen school spirit. At the same time, the school district was studying a report regarding developmental assets among young children, including the need for a sense of belonging in a school community.
The school was also going over their budget for the following year and found they were able to designate some money to pay for a few teacher gifts. Lefavour said it seemed like perfect timing.
Along with help from the Woodway PTA and student council, Lefavour made the first step in her quest to strengthen school spirit and ordered embroidered fleece vests for teachers. The vests will have the school mascot and the old school colors sewn on them.
“It’s important in a middle school because it really shows the kids and teachers that we support them …We haven’t officially chosen the colors yet, but we are the Woodway Dolphins … So the vests will have gray lettering and a silvery-blue dolphin,” Lefavour said.
After the vests arrive next week, Lefavour says she is planning to designate Fridays “spirit day” to wearing the vests, though she says teachers can wear them as often as they like.
“We’re also trying to promote spirit day for the whole school … and students can wear school colors or buy a school T-shirt as well,” said teacher and PTA vice president Julie Hehn.
While the official school colors were not yet chosen at the time the vests were ordered, Lefavour said she went ahead because she and the PTA really felt they wanted to show support for their teachers early on in the school year.
“The PTA has been so generous, and in June they already wanted to make sure the teachers felt support,” Lefavour said.
Lefavour said that the school will now leave it up to the student council to decide if they will change the current gray and blue school colors.
In addition to the fleece vests, Woodway has also implemented a “spirit board,” which hangs in a main hallway and boasts pictures of students doing things “the Woodway way,” making positive choices and celebrating the kids’ successes.
“It’s positive recognition for kids, Lefavour said. “… Last year we really worked to infuse support and fun on campus … and it builds camaraderie among students.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
