September is a sweet month, especially for the kids in New Albany, Mississippi. In fact, Sugaree’s Bakery has worked for the past several years to make it the sweetest month of the year through its “One Smart Cookie” award program.
This sweet program began with a desire to encourage and reward local students, and what better way to do that than with a delicious Sugaree’s cookie? So, each year, throughout the entire month of September, any student who brings in a test paper with a perfect score of 100 will be rewarded with a made-from-scratch cookie from Sugaree’s Bakery on Bankhead Street, New Albany.
Now, I am unsure how I had never heard about this amazing educational incentive program, even though I live nearby. But I only learned about it recently, when my sister and I shopped at the wide variety of stores in Downtown New Albany.
It’s important to know that we are both retired teachers, so my sister and I literally stopped in our tracks as we passed the sign outside Sugaree’s Bakery that declared, “Show us a test score of 100 for a free cookie.”
So, yes, we quickly turned around and headed through the door of Sugaree’s to find out more about this amazing incentive program. Of course, the delicious smell that enveloped us the minute we walked inside this beloved local bakery was almost more than we could handle. And the free samples of the daily special that greeted us just inside the door made our learning objective nearly impossible to achieve.
But we persevered and headed past the table of sample goodies to the counter to gather the details on their “One Smart Cookie” program. And what we found out made me so proud to be a resident of Union County, and it made me even more proud to know that a well-known business such as Sugaree’s Bakery made education such a top priority.
My first question, after learning the basic history of this incentive system, was how many local students participate throughout September. The bakery manager smiled and told me that each day after school, young customers line up with their 100 test scores, ready to enjoy the sweet reward of their hard work.
She also suggested I come by one Friday around 3:30 p.m. to see the long line of super achievers waiting outside the bakery door for their cookie. I did not visit on a Friday, but I dropped by Sugaree’s on a Tuesday afternoon. I met some excited little Mississippi scholars who proudly showed their 100 test scores to the ladies behind the counter. Their smiles upon receiving their cookie reward were contagious and encouraging to this old Mississippi teacher.
I was also amazed to learn that each student bringing in a perfect test score is also asked to put their name in a cookie jar for an end-of-the-month drawing. Amazingly, the student’s name that is drawn on September 30 will also be rewarded with Sugaree’s cupcakes for their entire grade.
Yep, you heard that last sentence 100% correctly.
On September 30, Sugaree’s Bakery will draw the name of “One Smart Cookie” from their cookie jar and award free cupcakes to that one student’s entire grade.
Talk about a sweet deal. That’s a party for a whole grade level of “smart cookies.”
Sadly, for the kiddos in New Albany, the sweet, sweet month of September is almost over. But I venture to say that this school year’s perfect test scores are just getting started for these smart kiddos, because Sugaree’s Bakery set the educational (cookie) bar really high.
And who knows! Maybe even the adults at other local businesses throughout the state will exceed that bar and create their own incentive programs for our amazing Mississippi students. Wouldn’t that be a sweet deal?
*All photos are courtesy of Sugaree’S Bakery
