As of December 4, a new system of rewarding students for involvement and connectedness was implemented at EG. The Five Star system, deemed “Nation Points” for localization, works by giving points to students who attend sporting or theatrical events and performances, as well as participating in school dress-up days.

“It’s a system that a lot of other schools use,” Robert Murphy, assistant principal for student activities said. “I went to a conference (Illinois Directors of Student Activities) last April, and one of the sessions was about this program. My counterparts from other schools have spoken very highly of it.”

The points are awarded to students by scanning their school IDs upon entering an event. The idea is that the more events one attends, the more points they receive; ergo, the closer they are to getting prizes.

The points are organized by six different levels: the green level is 1-5 points, the yellow level is 6-20 points, the bronze level 21-40 points, the silver level is 41-65 points, the gold level is 66-99 points, and the platinum level is 100 or more points.

The prizes start out small, becoming more and more luxurious. Moving up the levels, the prizes go: Nation stylus, Nation spirit gear, Nation lanyard, Nation water bottle, exclusive Nation t-shirt, and then Nike jacket. The first two people to make it to the gold level also receive free prom tickets and the first two people to make it to the platinum level receive reserved parking for major school events.

“I think students will enjoy it. It’s not a hard system to understand, just one to get to know,” social studies and Spanish teacher Chris Cirrincione said. “Once students become a part of it, I think they’ll enjoy going to different events, seeing some other students.”

Although it is a fairly new system to EG and on its trial run, students are generally reacting positevly thus far. Junior Jessica Kearns welcomes Nation Points.

“I thinks it’s cool, and I think more students will attend events and be involved in the school,” Kearns said.

As of right now, the calendar with designated points for events only extends to February 25, but the Nation sponsors are planning to continue the system in the spring and into the 2016-2017 school year.

“The idea is that you get involved with something, maybe something you’re not familiar with, but it does get harder and encourages you to get to those higher levels,” Cirrincione said.