There is a new face in the WWT history hallway this year, and that face belongs to Mr. Vernengo. He came to us from the Warren Woods Middle School history department. “When I started with Warren Woods, I taught 7th grade Social Studies, then I got bumped up to 8th grade Social Studies. Now I am teaching Economics, Civics, and American History to 9th and 10th graders. It is a unique experience to have the same group of students for the past three years. You really get to know your students well,” Mr. Vernengo said.

 Mr. Vernengo is thrilled to be a part of Titan Nation this year and for many years to come. When he joined the Woods-Tower family, he brought to us Titan Tickets. “I enjoy teaching at the high school level, which is primarily why I got my secondary certification instead of my elementary teacher certification. I think I connect better with older students and I am able to share my experience with them,” Mr. Vernengo stated.

 “I think students at the high school level see the importance of what I teach and how it directly impacts their lives. For instance, students in high school find that economics class is a lot more applicable now that they have jobs and are making money. I also enjoy talking with students about their futures and when they are going to do after high school, most middle school students are [just] not there yet,” Said Mr. Vernengo.

 No matter how excited Mr. V is about joining Titan Nation there are a lot of things that he will miss from the middle school. He is going to miss all of the staff that he worked with, “they were a great group of people”, along with the 8:10am starting time, “Losing an hour of sleep is tough, especially when you have two little boys at home”. Despite this he is especially enthralled to be able to participate in all of the extracurricular activities like the football games, Homecoming, and pep rally.

 Titan Tickets have been circulating around Tower this year as a way to reward students for the good things that they do throughout the day. This can include helping teachers around the classroom, helping other students, or just doing good things in general that go above and beyond the Titan Nation and the hallway and classroom expectations. “Titan Tickets are the slips of paper that a teacher gives out when they notice a positive behavior in class or the hallway. When a student is showing or modeling one of the behaviors on our school expectation posters, teachers will hand the student a ticket and recognize them for doing the right thing,” Mr. Vernengo stated.

 There will be drawings every week where several students will get their Titan Ticket chosen, and each of these students will win the prize available that week. Then at the end of the month a lucky winner will be chosen and they will receive a grand prize. As of now, Titan Ticket winners have won WWT backpacks, and Tower vs. Cancer t-shirts. If you don’t get your name called the first week, don’t worry. You can win multiple times per month. However, your tickets do not carry over from month to month.

 If you’re lucky enough to receive a Titan Ticket, you need to fill it out and return it to the teacher that gave it to you. Someone will come around to collect the tickets from the teachers and take them down to the office for the drawing.

 “The idea [for Titan Tickets] was something we started last year at the middle school. It is from the PBIS,[Positive Behavior Interventions and Support] concept that our school adopted as part of our behavior model. Instead of punishing people for bad behavior, we want to start rewarding students for all the positive things that they do on a daily basis. Assistant Principal Donny Sikora from WWMS ran a similar program when he was at Clintondale and he brought it to Warren Woods,” stated Mr. Vernengo.

 In just three weeks students have earned over 2,000 tickets for positive behaviors! Keep up the good work Titans!

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