Students who in the past earned C's and D's are now earning A's and B's in Lisa M. Brown's fifth-grade class at Harvest Hills Elementary School in Oklahoma City. Part of her success comes from the creative and interactive projects in which she involves her students, teaching them to write more fully developed sentences by having them create cartoon frames and teaching them history by having them write and videotape commercials about historical events. Her students' scores in math, reading, science, and social studies are among the best in the district, with every student scoring satisfactory or above in these curricular areas. She is a team leader, has served on the principal's leadership team and has chaired numerous committees. One of her highly effective activities is the Brown Bucks store, in which students are rewarded for good achievement and behavior with "Brown Bucks," which they can spend on everything from a piece of candy to lunch with the teacher. Such a rewarding education is sure to last a lifetime.
