GALION — Galion Primary School was one of 108 schools throughout Ohio recognized for its Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program by the Ohio Department of Education. The Primary School received a Bronze Award for 2017.
The Primary School’s PBIS — consisting of staff members Deanna Albert, Kerrie Zeuch, Cindy Conner, Katy Erlsten, Carly George, Melisa Watters, Andrea Murphy, Kristy Grimwood and parent representative Teresa Troiano — meets at least once a month to analyze data and make changes as needed based on that data.
“We have developed ‘Big Rocks’ for positive student behavior (Responsible, Respectful, Problem Solving Leaders),” said Cindy Conner, Second Grade teacher and team member. “We analyze what each of those words looks like in the various locations of school (bus, playground, classroom, bathroom, etc), and have developed lesson plans to assist teachers with helping kids learn appropriate behaviors.”
Learning stations are located throughout the building where all students are taught the same expectations by the same people. Some of the learning stations have been revamped to link expectations to The Leader in Me.
“We have developed ideas to reinforce the positive things that students do on a daily basis,” said Conner. “Every employee in our building (teachers, aids, secretaries, custodians, etc) have access to yellow tickets, which they can hand out to students when they display appropriate behaviors.”
Students learn responsibility by being asked to collect their tickets until they have 10. Once they have 10 tickets, they can trade them for a Golden Ticket.
“A student’s first Golden Ticket each month is their pass into the monthly incentive activity,” said Melisa Watters, Primary School Principal and team member. “Once they have earned their Golden Ticket, they can start saving for other Golden Prizes (bring a stuffed animal to school, wear slippers for a day, eat at the Tiger Table at lunch, tell a joke on the announcements, etc), which is a “no cost” investment to allow for long term sustainability.”
The monthly incentives vary. Examples of past incentives include an Outside Game Day, Hayrides, and Indoor Game Day. The team also has planned a Movie Day, Bounce Houses, Books and Hot Chocolate, just to name a few.
“I want to congratulate the Galion Primary School for receiving this incredible recognition from the Ohio Department of Education,” said Jim Grubbs, Galion Superintendent. “The Primary School PBIS Leadership Team works diligently to find new and innovative ways to help encourage positive student decisions about their behavior, and this award is a testament to their dedication to a strong PBIS program at Galion Primary.”
