“Have respect. Act responsibly. Work hard. Keep safe. Be a HAWK!”

This is the mantra of Willow Lane Elementary School, followed by students and faculty alike.

These values are taught and celebrated in the hallways of the school.

Recently, a student representative from each class was invited to a special breakfast made by their principal, Dr. Anthony Moyer, to celebrate them being great HAWKs.

According to Moyer, each month, students in every classroom are chosen by their teachers for outstanding behavior and celebrated in some way. Those students will tell you being a great HAWK can be as simple as being polite with words like “please” and “thank you” or helping their classmates with iPad issues.

If you listened carefully at breakfast, the conversation at each table was the same: how much snow would fall the next day. Excitement was in the air. Adding to the fun was seeing their principal dressed as a chef and watching him make their pancakes from scratch.

Emily Santorelli thinks it’s cool her principal is making pancakes at the breakfast. She knows this doesn’t happen at other schools.

“My teacher said I was really smart,” Santorelli explained as the reason she was chosen to represent her class.

What does she want to be when she grows up?

“I want to work as an air conditioning/heating person because my mom is one.”

Jack Knepp arrived at his seat sharply dressed. He says he was named by his teacher to represent his class because “I’m good at writing. I’m very polite.”

He can’t decide between being a police officer or a businessman when he grows up. He still has time to decide. His priority at the breakfast was to finish his pancakes and try and guess with his friends how much snow would fall the next day.