FARMINGTON — Praising students for doing good things with a reward of a token has changed the climate at the Mt. Blue Middle School for the better, staff members said.
Many have doubted that such a simple idea could work, but the program has turned these non-believers into believers, staff members said.
Students place their individual reward tokens in a cylinder attached to the wall in the hallway near the front of the school. When it is full, there is a special activity planned for students, such as a school dance. The idea is simple — the faster the cylinder fills up, the more rewards the student body receives.
The leadership team from the Positive Behaviorial Interventions and Supports program, consisting of educators and administrators at the school, gave an update to the RSU 9 Board of Directors on the program in late November.
The group started introducing the positive behavior incentive program at the end of the past school year. The staff and students produced short videos on how to act in the hallway, library and other common spaces — and how not to act. They are starting to bring the program into the classroom.
“We spent a lot of time talking with students about expectations for those spaces,” teacher Becky Roy said. “We actually had our kids come up with goals” they wanted to work on, such as respect and responsibility, she said.
Students can be recognized for not wearing hats in school and keeping their voices at appropriate levels, among other positive behaviors.
Sometimes when one student is rewarded with a token, it helps the other students improve their behavior, staff said.
“A lot of kids took that to heart,” Roy said. “We have had a wonderful year. It has been such a change.”
Teacher Maureen Oswald said she initially could not see why they should reward kids for doing things that they should already be doing. But she has since become one of the believers.
“I’m really impressed at how it is working,” Oswald said.
Roy added that the students average one to two rewards a quarter for special activities.
The students seem to be adapting well, Principal Gary Oswald said. He added that it has created a lot of excitement and positive behavior.
Oswald also announced at the Nov. 25 meeting that the middle school made annual yearly progress based on the New England Common Assessment Program.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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