Page 5 - Toolkit

The Benevolence Box
We have a box in the teacher workroom called the Benevolence Box. It looks like an old “suggestion box” with a slot in the top. Teachers are encouraged to write notes of gratitude on slips of paper and drop them into the Benevolence Box. For example, a teacher could write a note thanking a colleague for covering a class, or for attending an IEP Meeting, or helping with a lesson design.
At our General Faculty meeting each month, I pull these slips out of the Benevolence Box and read them aloud to the whole faculty. For the first 8-10 of these slips, the person who is being thanked, the “doer of the good deed,” is able to choose from a treasure trove of prizes. These prizes are typi- cally gift certificates to local businesses. They range from gift cards to a restaurant, to a coupon for a free manicure, we have even had certificates for free oil changes. I hustle the local business communi- ty for these prizes (with the assistance of Deb Foley).
The amount of goodwill this generates among our faculty is tremendous. Everyone looks forward to the General Faculty meeting; to see whose name gets drawn and also to see what prizes we have collected each month. It is a lot of fun. Of course, the more prizes I can garner each month – the happier the faculty meeting gets! You would be surprised how many of your local businesses will contribute. You just have to ask.
This is a picture of the Benevolence Box and the notes from last month – 35 notes!
Credit: The Benevolence Box – Mark Rendell, Principal Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr