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BES program promotes positive traits
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| By: THERESE APEL, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
October 28, 2009 |
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Photo By THERESE APEL
Brookhaven Elementary School students (from left) Terisha McNair, Chris Robinson, Sarah Grace Evans, Emily Hearst, Isis Brown, Grant Mills and Caleb Brown give their Positive Behavior Support presentation for the Brookhaven School District School Board Tuesday night. The program is aimed at reinforcing good manners and behavior both on and off campus.
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Manners don't have to be a thing of the past, or so say the folks at Brookhaven Elementary School.
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Using the catchphrase "PBS at BES," meaning "Positive Behavior Support," several children accompanied BES Principal Dolores Gearing and teachers Marlene Martin and Patricia Turnage to the Brookhaven School District Board meeting Tuesday night and gave a presentation on the positive changes they're making at their school.
"This is a schoolwide strategy for helping students achieve their goals," Gearing said. "We're proud to be a part of such an exciting initiative."
Gearing said schoolwide, everyone from teachers to janitors to bus drivers are giving little yellow tickets to children who are seen exhibiting good behavior in three different areas: Respect, responsibility and best effort. There is a special emphasis on stopping bullying behavior, she said.
"We're looking to apply consistent consequences and positive reinforcement for students," she said.
The group showed the school board and several parents a video with examples of children doing things like picking up trash without being asked, and holding the door for each other at school as a song with the lyrics "respect yourself, respect others" played in the background.
Gearing said research has shown that programs similar to "PBS at BES" have reduced problem behavior more than 90 percent in over half the studies that have been done.
In other school board action, Mississippi School of the Arts Director Suzanne Hirsch updated the board on the school's progress in the first few months of school.
"We're very blessed to have such immense support from the community," she said. "And especially in the light of all the challenges that we've faced, we certainly couldn't exist without you guys."
Hirsch said the school currently has around 130 students enrolled from 42 of Mississippi's 82 counties. The budget is around $3 million, with possibly another budget cut on the way, she said.
"We're trying to work through the budget issues by being creative, as we artists are," Hirsch said. "(BSD Superintendent) Mrs. (Lea) Barrett and I are trying to figure out ways to share resources."
Hirsch said she is working on an economic impact study to see what MSA is actually doing financially for Southwest Mississippi. She said officials are also putting together an awareness campaign to people state- and nationwide know what MSA has to offer.
But Hirsch also wanted the board to know about MSA's success. Last year's graduating class of 48 students had a total of $3.2 million in scholarship offers, she said.
School board member Carl Aycock told Hirsch the school district offers plenty of extracurriculars that MSA students are more than welcome to be a part of if they choose.
"We have things like soccer and band," Aycock said, also referring to the football team. "And if you end up with any 7-foot artists, let us know."
Hirsch said several of their students are already involved with the soccer team, and that extracurriculars are very important to her.
"Our school is like a collegiate environment," she said, adding that anything that gives them high school adventures is welcome. "We're very interested in making sure those kinds of things can be a part of their high school experience."
Meanwhile, Barrett told the board that when report cards came out recently, there was a positive response from parents.
About 98 percent of Mamie Martin Elementary School's parents showed up to pick up report cards in person, she said. BES had 94 percent come in, Alexander Junior High School had 91 percent participation, Lipsey Middle School had 90 percent, and Brookhaven High School had 73 percent.
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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