Amanda Elzy Junior High School has been recognized at the state level for its PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) program by REACH Mississippi (Realizing Excellence for All Children).
REACH Mississippi is Mississippi’s State Personnel Development Grant that focuses on the support of the PBIS program within the levels of education. It awarded $250 to the top two PBIS schools as an incentive.
The program, adopted by the district in 2013, consists of sessions and discussions on four topics: bullying, drinking and distracted driving, domestic abuse and cyber bullying.
The PBIS program is a system based on rewards and incentives that help model behavior of the students, said Lisa Hudson of Amanda Elzy.
“How can our students learn if these outside problems are bogging them down?” Hudson said.
This past year the school held multiple assemblies, including “Stomp out Bullying,” in October, in which students and staff wore blue and boots to symbolize eliminating bullying. Students were then introduced to different forms of bullying, what was and was not bullying and proper procedure in dealing with it.
“It really cut down on the bullying taking place at school,” Marquavious Williams of Amanda Elzy said.
Williams and a few other students acted as the student sounding board for ideas and activities pitched to go along with the program.
“We try to come up with themes that the kids can get excited about,” Hudson said.
In November, the students learned about drinking and distracted driving, and in December, Boyd shared her personal experience with domestic abuse.
“It was my first relationship right out of high school,” Boyd said. “It only took one hit before I got out, but a hit can turn into a knife and a knife into a gun.”
Students deal with many problems at home that teachers and the school don’t know about, Principal Jacqueline Boyd said.
“With this program, the school is trying to accommodate and help our students deal with what they face at home,” she said.
Students may not find solutions in the program, but they have a better understanding of the issues and the positive behavior and proper response to certain situations.
“The program prepares us for handling these issue now before they change our lives,” Williams said.
The program has created a safer learning environment for teachers, students and parents, Boyd said.
“Our students are more willing to step up and say something isn’t right now that they have a better understanding of these issues,” Hudson said.
In the two years of the program, not only has the school become more orderly, but the lines of communication between faculty and students on these topics improved.
“It’s not just the students who are more willing to talk to us about their problems at home but the parents as well,” Boyd said.
The school works to offer counseling for both parents and students on top of the program.
“There is no greater joy than returning a kid, safe and happy to their parents after school,” Hudson said. “This program helps us do that.”
•Contact Laura Kay Prosser at 581-7233 or lprosser@gwcommonwealth.com.
