The window to submit nickname suggestions has closed, and now the process to replace the Paw Paw Public Schools nickname shifts into its next phase.
On April 28 the Student Task Force will host an online forum for community members, followed by the first round of voting on May 1 for students, alumni, and community members to identify the ten most popular nicknames submitted to the committee for consideration.
The task force will also launch a social media page dedicated to providing resources and information to students and community members interested in following the process as it moves forward. The Paw Paw Public Schools Nickname Facebook page will launch at 2 PM on Friday, April 24. It will contain information, updates, and resources for students and community members. The page will be moderated and viewed by students, and any posts, comments, and replies submitted to the page will be monitored, reviewed, and approved based on page guidelines before they are made public. On April 24 this Facebook page will list all nicknames that have been vetted and submitted for discussion at the community forum and for the voting process that starts on May 1.
The Community Forum will be held Tuesday, April 28, from 6:30-8 PM as an online webinar. It will provide a chance for students and community members to interact with and have dialogue with members of the Nickname Student Task Force and Paw Paw Public Schools Director of Curriculum and Instruction Corey Harbaugh. The forum will provide an opportunity for students or community members to share information with the members of the task force in support of a nickname that has been submitted.
Any student or community member who wishes to attend the Community Forum must register, and registration is limited to the first 500 who sign up. The registration link can be found here: COMMUNITY FORUM REGISTRATION LINK.
Any registrant who wishes to speak or present to the task force will have to indicate that in the registration process. Speaker slots and time restraints will be limited by the number of individuals who wish to speak during the event, and every effort will be made to provide equal opportunity and time to every person who wishes to speak during the event.
The event will be recorded and posted as a video on the Facebook page for any student or community member who could not attend the live event. Instructions for registering for the Community Forum can be found in the Daily Updates at ppps.org, on the Facebook Page, and on District social media sites.
The first round of voting will begin on May 1, and during this first round, any student or community member who wishes to vote will identify 10 nicknames from the approved list of more than 100 submissions. First round voting will conclude on May 8 at 12:00 PM (Noon). Instructions for voting and an electronic ballot will be available on District online resources for to any student, community member, or alumni who wishes to vote, and votes will be tabulated using the formula established in the process guidelines document, with 60% of the weight of the vote going to the student body, 30% going to the community, and 10% to the members of the nickname task force.
On May 8 the next phase will begin, with voting open to students, community members, and alumni to take the Top 10 list down to the Top 3 choices by May 14.
700 individuals submitted nicknames, with more than 135 individual nickname suggestions for the Task Force to review. Task force members will review each nickname to be sure it matches established criteria for the next Paw Paw Public Schools nickname. Nickname submissions found not to be appropriate or to match the established criteria will not be included in any round of the voting process.