Center students start new year of good deeds
Center Township Elementary School kicked off the second year of a good behavior program the state recently recognized and that an assistant principal believes will soon spread throughout the district.
Parents of Center Township students should have received letters about the program Friday, said Matt Martinez, assistant principal. Martinez spent his Friday afternoon emceeing an assembly that launched this year’s SOAR program.
SOAR is essentially a means for teachers and school staff to reward good behavior. It stands for Safe, Ownership, Attitude and Respect.
Believe it or not, it’s an easier acronym than the state program that SOAR was recognized as a member of last spring. State inspectors from that program, School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, or SWPBIS, visited the school last year to observe and conduct on-the-spot questioning with teachers and students, Martinez said.
At Center Township Elementary, students are given blue and gold cards for good behavior. Good behavior includes small acts of kindness, cleaning up after oneself, taking responsibility for one’s actions and other basic skills best learned at a young age.
Blue tickets are the lesser of the two rewards. Recipients enter their name in raffles for small prizes.
Ten gold tickets are given out each day schoolwide. Recipients are recognized on the morning announcements and made eligible to win a bigger prize.
Junelle Wisniewski, the school counselor, said they’re trying to make the grand prizes experience-based, rather than physical objects.
“We don’t want the kids making the right choice just to get a nice toy,” she said.
Martinez said one winner last year chose as his prize to have the principal call his parents and brag about what a good student he is. “Obviously, parents don’t get those calls often enough,” Martinez said.
During Tuesday’s assembly, students from various grade levels competed in a Jeopardy-style game. Students answered questions like “How many paper towels should you use?” (two) and “What kind of feet do we use in the cafeteria?” (walking feet).
Beyond rewards, the other element of the new program is reflection for wrongdoing. Misbehaving students are made to fill out sheets reflecting on what they had done wrong.
“We teach students to read and how to add and subtract, but when a student misbehaves we just punish them,” Martinez said. “We should be teaching them to behave as well.”
The school saw a decline in students being sent to the principal’s office after implementing the program, according to Martinez.
“In the next couple of years, you’ll probably see similar programs at other schools in the district as well,” he said.
