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Greenville City Schools
A Time of Good Cheer
By Chris Mortensen, Greenville Middle School, Principal
We have so many blessings to be thankful for each year. This year is
one that we have more to be thankful for than we could ever imagine.
Sometimes the good things are hidden in the fog of all the other things
that are occurring around us and we have to be able to look past this
to see how much we really have that is truly a blessing. We often tend
to focus on the negative things around us that seem to stand out and
dominate all that we do. It is often nice to step back, let the fog
lift and point out the positives that surround us.
The Middle School PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support)
team has faced particular challenges in finding ways to celebrate these
accomplishments and successes this past year. The team meets monthly
and this year their challenge stemmed around trying to offer supports
for students and staff in the face of the pandemic and the stipulations
surrounding contact surfaces, social distancing and contact tracing
that has been a guide in all we do for the past 10 months. The team
needed to look at our system to incorporate changes, and in some cases,
abandon what we had done in the past. Assemblies would not work and
having common rewards that students would be able to pick from seemed
problematic due to so many students coming in contact with these items
daily. The team needed to find ways to recognize the wave spirit yet,
avoid these health risk factors, and several methods were identified.
The team was determined to recognize our students and staff and to aim
efforts at building Middle School morale while placing an emphasis on
academics. The first steps were how to replace the rewards that
students had been able to select from in the past. The team determined
that they would begin providing individually wrapped rewards for
students to be recognized weekly based on students upholding aspects of
what it means to be a “Wave”. The team used the rewards and placed
these in an envelope for students stating why they were being
recognized. This was introduced to the students through the morning
announcements along with what students needed to do in order to be
considered for recognition. These included keeping their lockers
cleaned and organized, entering and exiting the building in a safe
manner without running or shoving and of course maintaining the proper
use of masks and social distancing following the COVID 19 regulations
of Mask Up, Back Up, and Wash Up. Students would receive the rewards
for their accomplishments and would come up to administration
commenting, “Look Mr. Mortensen, I was recognized for keeping my locker
clean and organized. This is awesome!” The student held up his envelope
and exited the building commenting that he couldn’t wait to let his
parents know he was recognized.
The second recognition method involved students at each grade level
being recognized by the staff for special accomplishment around the
building. These students are selected as our students of the month.
They get recognized in the board reports, newsletters and they earn the
right to have extended recess and lunch privileges for themselves and
three of their friends that they get to choose. They are provided the
extra time and given a seat of honor with their friends in the
cafeteria. This one takes a step further and also recognizes the staff
member who nominated the winners. These staff members also get a choice
of reward including either an extended lunch with the administration
arranging coverage of their Wave time on a date of their choosing or
they can turn in their reward for lunch on the administration from the
restaurant of their choosing...locally of course.
The third recognition for student accomplishment places a focus on
academics. We have not finalized this for the building, but is one that
we are excited to get into place. We owe this opportunity to the
generosity and support of a couple of groups for the Greenville Middle
School. The school with the assistance of The Greenville School
Foundation Teacher Grant has supplied funds to purchase a 5-8 book
vending machine that will allow students to earn rewards in the form of
tokens for this machine. Students exemplifying what it means to be a
GreenWave will be recognized and earn tokens, which will allow them to
use the tokens to obtain a book of their choosing from the vending
machine at no cost to the students. The PTA will discuss how they might
support this effort as well, by supplying more tokens and books for the
vending machine as we move forward.
The most recent recognition goes out for all students to be able to
achieve and is connected to student accomplishment in academics. During
December, students can earn a PBIS reward simply for doing their job as
a GreenWave in completing their homework daily. Students who have no
missing assignments during December through the eighteenth of the month
will be eligible to earn a holiday treat, which includes entertainment
provided through the school’s YouTube account for the last day of
school before break. Another similar opportunity is being looked at for
the end of the third quarter with students being able to attend a
theater production being put on by our very own students in
coordination with Mrs. Thompson the Middle School Theater advisor. We
are excited to see what they have for us this year.
There are so many great things happening to recognize all of our
students and staff and their accomplishments here at the Middle School.
It is such a blessing to see the great things that students are doing
throughout the building whether upholding the Wave way, showing
positive behaviors as exemplified in the Seven Mindsets, or simply
being recognized for accomplishments in completing all of their work
through the month of December. The Greenville Middle School
administration would like to thank those members of the PBIS team for
their hard work in putting all of these recognition opportunities
together for our students and staff. We would further like to thank the
Greenville School’s Foundation for their support of our student’s
academic success through the purchase of the 5-8 Book Vending Machine.
Finally, a thank you to our PTA for support in our recognition efforts
by supplying routine aid in funding, organization, and supporting a
positive culture at the 5-8 Middle School. Thank you to all those
involved in supporting our students and staff in these recognition
efforts each year.
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