School Mottos
September 4, 2018
Labor day has come and gone and that signals two things at least: summer is over and mostly everyone is back to school now. And typically, motivation is high in these beginning days of school even though students are mourning the end of summer. However, schools need to maintain student motivation beyond the first week of school for at least 180 days. One way to do that is for schools to adopt a school motto.
The purpose of a school motto is to inspire the students, parents, teachers, and administrators, as a community, with a short, meaningful slogan about the ideals of life or education. The motto captures the essence of the school in just a few words or a brief phrase and motivates people in a school community to live in harmony and achieve educational success.
In the past, school mottos were Latin phrases such as, “Discere et Vivere” which translates as, “To Learn and to Live”. Modern school mottos are gaining in popularity, and while some are still taken from Latin and writers of antiquity, more and more include ideals from the creative minds of school communities. For example:
Be what you dare!
If we cannot find the road to success, we will make one!
The most valuable possession is knowledge!
Create the difference!
But if I were principal for a day, I would choose my school motto from Scripture and it would be….
“Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.”
Psalm 86:11
Happy one day of school down and 179 more to go!