Here’s how WES is encouraging positive behavior in students

By Patricia Nugent

Teachers tell an insider’s joke that in education, February is both the longest and shortest month of the year. Winter break is long over, the days are shorter and the weather stinks…a prescription for the winter doldrums.

To remedy that, the teachers and administrators at Grant Elementary School in Willoughby put on their thinking caps and came up with two novel programs launched last month: Fun in February and the Kindness & Empathy Initiative.

“The staff collectively came up with the super-creative Fun in February themes to bring a little excitement and adventure to students’ lives,” says Gina Brown, who is principal at Grant. “Everyone was encouraged to dress up for the daily themes, such as Western Day, Cool Kicks, where they sported their favorite sneakers, or Red-White-and-Blue Day to celebrate Presidents Day.”

With the Kindness & Empathy initiative, which lasts through the end of March, the focus is on recognizing, reinforcing and encouraging acts of kindness. It was spearheaded by the school’s PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) team. This state-mandated team is tasked with looking at positive ways of improving behavior across the school. It focuses on social-emotional learning standards.

And helping teach about kindness and empathy within the classroom are the support staff from Crossroads mental health service. They do modeling and role-playing to help students understand what empathy really means.

Principal Brown says teachers are enabled to reward students doing kind actions by giving out “Bulldog Bucks.” Students also are keeping score of their acts of kindness with the goal of 100 Acts of Kindness.

“Both of these programs have helped bring everyone together and form a sense of community,” she says. “The past year has not been easy for these teachers or students, and it was nice to engage in something lighthearted, upbeat and meaningful. Our hope is to inspire our students to spread kindness and act as good citizens of the community, both in the classroom and in the outside world.”

Look for these monthly stories to cover topics from grades K-12 in the Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools System. Find out more at WESchools.org.