I will never forget my first ROAR buck, bestowed upon me after a French 1 presentation. Until that moment, I had no idea those orange slips of paper even existed. Let’s just say I got over this reward pretty fast. Something about the slip’s coined phrase, “RHS swag” took away any interest in its actual purpose.

I came to find out that I was unfamiliar with the orange slip, not just because I was a freshman, but because teachers seldom used them as grounds for motivation. Consequently, students did not feel the need to earn ROAR bucks. Students never talked about it, and since teachers rarely gave out ROAR bucks, the unfair prices in the student store were unattainable.

Even when teachers did hand them out, this is a world where homework and bathroom passes outweigh school merchandise, and awarding ROAR bucks almost immediately elicited a sigh from the receiver.

I can’t think of a time when the student store sold more than PE clothes and a lock. I can’t think of a time when anyone actually found the student store to be a functional aspect of RHS.

In an attempt to revive the student store and the worth of ROAR bucks, prices were reduced and RHS popsockets were added to the merchandise that had been gathering dust over the years. Initially, I was stoked. My friends were stoked. We scavenged the bottoms of our backpacks for those little orange slips together.

As I write this piece, I must make note of the fact that I sit here with none other than the same RHS popsocket I mentioned earlier.

But here’s the thing.

I used to believe ROAR bucks were ineffective and useless. Now? The inadequacy of ROAR bucks as a motivator has shifted from the orange slips itself onto the items it may purchase. In my years at RHS I’ve collected a whopping six ROAR bucks, four of which were from the same teacher.

Across the board it seems that even teachers have forgotten about ROAR bucks and the hype surrounding the lowered prices and new merch has blown over.

I applaud those who allowed student store prices to drop but those efforts will remain ineffective until a ROAR buck rebirth occurs.

This requires students to be familiar with what ROAR bucks have to offer. This requires teachers to regularly offer ROAR bucks. We should never stop trying to improve what we’ve already got but let’s make sure everyone is on the same page.