There are pluses and minuses to having a ranking system.  One of the big plusses, when it comes to kids, is that they are hugely inspired by the idea of getting to wear a belt.  It's a lovely carrot to keep them going and hopefully somewhere along the way they discover there is more to the art than a new colored stripe around their waist.

This is our second year at Lewis Elementary.  We've managed to only hold on to two of our students from the previous year.  Having them in class is awesome because all the new students get to see that rank does exist - it is possible to advance!

At this point I'm seeing a few of the newer students with that hungry look in their eye.  They want their first rank.  It's awesome.  I figure if I give a couple of orange sashes out before the Thanksgiving break, the rest of the students will come back from vacation and be trying to figure out how they too can earn their first rank.  My goal is to keep more of the students for next year so that we don't have to start all over again every time.

- Wally.