After the first period bell had just rung on the last school day of the month Revere High School’s (RHS) Principal Doug Faris spoke on the intercom announcing that any students that have been nominated for the momentum meal may go to the media center. These students, who have been nominated by the staff of RHS, showcased one of the six elements of the Vision of a Minuteman. The momentum meal is a flexible experience where students can either get their meal and go back to class or stay and chat with some of their peers who have also been nominated.
This particular tradition, previously known as pancake breakfast because at the time, former RHS Principal Andrew Peltz came up with the idea of making pancakes for students. He did the same thing at his first principal job at a middle school in New London, so when he came over to the Revere district, he knew he wanted to keep this tradition up.
“I was at Revere Middle School for a year, [and] I brought [the pancake breakfast idea] there and then. . . . When I became the high school principal [at RHS], I [brought it] along as well. It’s something I miss now as a superintendent,” Peltz said.
Peltz came up with the idea because at New London, they had a student reward breakfast, and Peltz brought in donuts. The students were happy about it, but there was not much interaction during it. So, Peltz thought students would appreciate it more if he made the food for the students.
“I decided to buy a little griddle . . . and make pancakes for them. . . . The kids were so much more engaged. They were appreciative because it was an act of service and gratitude,” Peltz said.
Peltz saw the reaction the students had to him making the pancakes compared to buying something and decided he wanted to do the same thing again in order to get more students involved.
“I recognized people loved it. Teachers wanted to nominate students. I wanted to get more kids involved, so we decided to make it a monthly tradition,” Peltz said.
When Peltz became principal at RHS, he knew that he wanted to have something similar happen here.
“I didn’t want to just rock the boat immediately. It really was the first two quarters trying to figure out what was working, what wasn’t and talking with the [teacher’s] leadership team,” Peltz said.
He really valued the pancake breakfast not for himself, but for the students that get to experience and sense a feeling of accomplishment for some of their good deeds.
“It was about the culture within the building. It’s about celebrating how amazing the Revere kids are. It’s about making every kid feel welcome and valued in the building for just doing the little things well,” Peltz said.
Peltz also saw that when doing the pancake breakfast, students would get nominated by teachers who thought they did not like them. He said that this was a good way to also have the teachers show the students that they care for them even if they may not be able to fully show it.
“Some teachers don’t have the language or the ability to communicate how they feel about kids in a positive way, but they can nominate them for a pancake breakfast and perhaps that relationship, it’s a little bit better,” Peltz said.
Faris knew that he wanted to keep the pancake breakfast when he took over the principal role after Peltz left. He saw the outcome that it had on students and knew that he wanted to continue it.
“I saw pretty quickly how [excited] the staff was about nominating kids and how exciting it was for kids to receive those nominations,” Faris said.
When Peltz left and Faris became the principal, the pancake breakfast changed into the Momentum Meal. This was something that Assistant Principal Tiffany Tuma came up with over the summer before she started working.
“Last year, our school theme was keep it going and so with that theme I started thinking about gaining momentum. So that’s how the Momentum Meal name came into effect,” Tuma said.
Another main reason that they started doing this was for a study called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Basically this says that it is important to praise students’ good behavior. The momentum meal is the main way RHS uses this ideology to motivate students and maintain good behavior.
“There’s a lot of studies out there that say ‘the more you highlight and lift up those that are doing right, the bigger that percentage of your population becomes, so the less problems you have,” Tuma said.
The Momentum Meal is something that students can look forward to. Whether they are just coming in and out to get their pancake or ice cream or if they are staying to chat with their peers who also have gotten nominated. This tradition has shown improvement to students’ overall behavior in class as well as their relationship with their teachers.
