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Cullowhee Valley rewards students’ positive behavior
By Justin Goble
As soon as they walk through the doors, teachers and students know what’s to be expected of them while at Cullowhee Valley School.
If there are any questions as to what these expectations are, one needs only look at the school’s “Behavior Expectations Matrix,” which displays the attitudes and actions expected throughout the school. From the classroom to the school bus, this billboard shows how those at CVS respect themselves, others, learning and property.
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The Cullowhee Valley School “Lights of Character” program honors students for demonstrating positive character traits. According to school counselor Karen Clarke, “Lights” is a part of the school’s Positive Behavior Support effort, which stresses virtue in an effort to improve school achievement. As a part of the program, students from each homeroom receive recognition for displaying that month’s character trait. For January, integrity was the chosen characteristic, and students who displayed it are, from left, (front) Stephanie Sanchez, Bryce Lowe, Kysha Rogers, Evan Clarke, Grace Porter, Spencer Stone and Ally Vickery; (second row) Anne Wade, Dale Middleton, Kaitlyn Luker, Jack Ridenour, Samantha Norris, Michala Luker and Justus Henkel; (third row) Tyler Herbst, Bethany Lewis, Todd Martin, Katie Hutchinson, Lane Martin, Harley Sims and Melissa Franks; (fourth row) Courtney Fish, Adam Philyaw, Vickie Parris, Madeline Seagle, Aaron Shapiro, Laura Ward and Danielle Bryson.
To reinforce these traits, school officials recognize students who display good character traits in their school and personal life.
According to counselor Karen Clarke, teaching students about positive behaviors is something schools regularly do. The efforts at CVS have become part of a concentrated program which provides education, reinforcement and recognition, she said.
“All schools do this stuff differently,” Clarke said. “Ours is a part of the schoolwide Positive Behaviors Support program.”
Through PBS, teachers and staff are able to teach character while the students are at a young age. According to Cullowhee Valley teacher Marcia Kotila, the program allows students to receive a definitions of what these traits are as well as seeing examples.
“It’s a proactive way of teaching, defining and supporting positive behaviors,” Kotila said.
Kotila got the idea from a similar program in Warren County. She was so impressed that she brought the idea to Cullowhee Valley and the staff began devising ways to teach and recognize positive traits.
One way is with the “Lights of Character” program. Through it, teachers reward students who display a certain character trait for the month.
Cullowhee Valley School fourth-grader Tyler James and counselor Karen Clarke draw a ticket from a jar to reward one student who has displayed positive character traits. Each week teachers award tickets to students to reinforce behaviors that provide for a safe, orderly and higher-achieving school as a part of CVS’ Positive Behavior Support program. Students whose names are drawn from the ticket jar receive a free ice cream from the school cafeteria. Those interested in becoming a community partner in the program are asked to contact the school at 293-5667.
“All teachers have a folder with everything in it,” Clarke said. “They have all the guidelines. We give them a nomination form for a child who has demonstrated that month’s character trait. Integrity has been the trait for the month of January.”
“Each teacher has to nominate a student who demonstrates that character trait in their life,” Kotila said. “One person is chosen from each homeroom. Some schools only recognize one or two students, but we thought it would be better to recognize a person from each class.”
Along with getting their names and accomplishments read aloud on the school’s morning announcements, the students have a certificate displayed on the wall in the school and their photos published in The Sylva Herald.
Clarke said this recognition is not only appreciated by the nominees, but by the other students as well.
“I think it’s neat to watch as a teacher,” Clarke said. “The students are proud of their classmates. It’s a big deal to them.”
Parents and school administrators have voiced their support for the program, Clarke said. Many people tell her how good it is that the children are given attention for the positive things they do.
“The parents are very happy with the program,” Clarke said. “They tell us, ‘It’s nice my child is recognized for something good.’”
Along with “Lights of Character,” the staff also recognizes students by handing out tickets to kids that display positive character traits during the school day.
“We give out tickets to kids that have done what they’re supposed to,” Kotila said. “Every Friday, there’s a drawing. The winner gets a free ice cream. Some kids keep the tickets. They like to be recognized for what they’re doing.”
While the prize seems small to outsiders, Clarke said it is surprising how the students react to such recognition.
“One day the eighth-graders were picking up trash on school grounds, and I told some of them I was going to give them a ticket,” she said. “I forgot, and a few days later one of them came up to me and said, ‘Ms. Clarke, you still haven’t given me a ticket.’ Even the eighth-graders are making a big deal about it.”
As educators, imparting such traits upon the students is part of the job, Kotila said.
“We’re in the business of teaching,” Kotila said. “If the students don’t know how to behave or don’t know the rules, we have to teach them. We’re using the same language and the same examples, so we are all on the same plane. Hopefully, these character traits will become habits.”
“I call them life skills,” Clarke said. “They’re just being taught life skills. If you teach them while they’re young, these things might help them later in life. Being polite can help them at a job interview.”
Teaching these traits is done in a variety of ways. Lessons and discussion play a major part, Clarke said.
“I have every classroom from kindergarten through sixth grade,” Clarke said. “We spend a lot of time talking about these traits. This month, we’ve been talking about what integrity means. We have to emphasize what it is. Teachers also have lessons and books they pull from.”
Kotila and Clarke both said the level of success of the program will be measured by school’s environment. If things are going as planned, there should be fewer disciplinary actions taken by the staff while the level of academic achievement improves.
“Our ultimate goal is less office referrals and more time to spend on academics and higher achievement,” Kotila said. “This is a data-based program. We’re looking at the number of referrals and the level of achievement. It offers us a way to look at where the problems are and make system changes. We don’t have any stats yet. We’re keeping track of the data. We’ve just been trained on a schoolwide information system. We’re compiling the results from last semester right now.”
While there is no hard evidence to show how well the program is succeeding, Clarke and Kotila said that feeling among students and staff is a positive one.
“It makes everyone feel good when there’s so much ‘positivity,’” Clarke said. “It’s a thought process for teachers on how they teach behaviors.”
“People do better when you recognize what they’re doing,” Kotila said. “It makes your situation much more pleasant when people value what you do.”
And while the main focus of the program is on the students, educators and support staff are also positively affected by it. Kotila and Clarke said since everyone is involved in deciding what the expectations would be, it allows all opinions to be heard and considered.
“Everyone on staff knows the behavioral expectations,” Marcia said. “The cafeteria workers, the bus drivers, everyone. It took us a half-year to come up with the them. Now we have signs displaying what we expect, and those are in the halls, the bus, the bathrooms, and other places. Everyone gave input when we started. The bus drivers gave us advice on what they thought those behaviors look like while riding the bus, for example.”
“It brought the school together,” Clarke said. “It let everyone know that their opinions are valued. We teachers needed it as much as the students.”
Response has been so positive that there are plans for expansion. Kotila said this wasn’t surprising, since program like this have been popping up in schools across the country.
“Twelve percent of the schools in North Carolina are initiating schoolwide PBS programs,” she said. “It’s growing across the state and country.”
This growth is happening in Jackson County schools as well, Clarke said. She is currently talking with other schools to make PBS a program that goes beyond the walls of Cullowhee Valley.
“We’re initiating it with other principals,” Clarke said. “We have two schools that are interested right now.”
Anyone who would like to become a community partner with the program may contact the school at 293-5667.
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