Wake Up Thomas Worthington

Motivation in the Morning

Gia Napoleon, Writer

Do you ever need reminders to get to school on time? Do you ever need motivation to get you through the long school day? Wake Up Thomas Worthington has a quick and easy text message format that delivers motivational quotes to the lock screen of your phone every morning during the school week.

Assistant Principal Gregory Garris created Wake Up Thomas Worthington to help students remember to wake up and get to school on time while also providing positive and motivational messages to start their days. In order to accomplish this goal Garris commented in an interview that he must choose “short and sweet” quotes that are simple and effective at conveying a motivational message. Past quotes include “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do” and “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

These early morning encouragements have had a positive reception amongst students. After seeing a post on Garris’ Twitter page about Wake Up Thomas Worthington, Junior Anusha Baldaro quickly signed up for the daily texts. Baldaro stated that Wake Up Thomas Worthington is “a really nice start to the day as it’s a positive message that sets the tone for the rest of your day.” Later in an interview Baldaro eagerly agreed that the quotes always put a smile on her face and remind her to be positive throughout the day. The quotes also motivate her to work harder and stay focused during the school day. Garris commented that students have told him that the motivational maxims have been what help them get out of bed and prepare for school.

Motivational quotes serve many purposes.  They create the desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed, whether that commitment be to a jobrole, subject or goal. According to Harvard Business Review, the main three tactics motivational texts use are through positive and negative feedback, goal setting and incentives. Authors Juliana Schroeder and Ayelet Fishbach state that people who apply positive feedback to enhance commitment and negative feedback to highlight slow progress, who set small targets and who giving immediate, certain and intrinsic incentives will have strong motivation towards an objective or goal.

Wake Up Thomas Worthington strives to provide the motivational desire and energy that drives students to work harder. Baldaro stated that “everyone should sign up for Wake Up Thomas Worthington because it can be great influence on our student body.” She also commented that starting her day with a motivational quote is much more uplifting than going on social media or the internet. Garris’ hope for Wake Up Thomas Worthington is that there is at least one message that has made an impact and given students a reason to wake up and have a great day at school.

You can join the Wake Up Thomas Worthington remind by visiting this link:

www.remind.com/join/wakeuptw