April 2, 2014 at 1:55 p.m.
Students at Crescent Elementary clown around to celebrate good behavior
Students at Crescent Elementary clown around to celebrate good behavior
Not only was it the end of the third quater, and therefore the last day before spring break, it was also the day of the school's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) celebration.
"It's all about our PBIS program and rewarding the students for their good behavior over the third quarter," said first grade teacher Tina Vannatter, one of the circus organizers. "But we're also celebrating our Reading Buddies program. For the activities in the rings, the kids are teaming up with their reading buddies to promote working together."
Students from every grade level dressed up as animals and clowns and performed various circus acts such as jumping through rings of "fire," popping ballons and riding tricycles. But as fun as the event was, Vannatter said there was a deeper meaning attached to the circus - celebrating the idea that the school is a community unto itself.
"The whole thing is about promoting a community atmosphere within our school," Vannatter said.
"We all look out for each other, we all work together, we all help each other follow the same rules and we all have fun together."
"We want everybody to know that we're a family, that we're a community. We want to do this together," she added.
That sense of family is directly tied to the PBIS initiative.
"Our rules are what allow us to do fun things like this. That's what PBIS is all about. It's about rewarding that good behavior. It's rewarding doing what you're supposed to be doing and going above and beyond that good behavior," Vannatter said.
"Anytime kids are caught doing the right thing, they earn what's called a Hodag High Five. They can then use the high fives to enter drawings for prizes at our special events ... so they know the more times they get caught doing the right thing, the more chances they have of getting a prize."
The circus wasn't the first PBIS/end of quarter celebration - and it certainly won't be the last - but the event does outline a new trend in Crescent celebrations, which is getting the kids up and moving and active during the festivities.
"We've been trying to think of active things we can do with the kids. We've done things like having someone come in to play music or things like that, and that's fun, but it's hard at the end because the kids can get antsy. They want to be up and moving and active," Vannatter said.
"So we asked ourselves what we could do where we're moving, where we're active. We tried having our own Olympics last quarter and it was fantastic, so we tried to think of what else we could do and we came up with the circus."
With the Olympics last quarter and the circus last Friday, the bar has been set pretty high for the upcoming celebrations, but Vannatter said the school is up to the challenge.
"After the Olympics we just brainstormed and came up with a circus. We might do a carnival sometime," she said.
"We've got all kinds of different ideas so it should be a fun rest of the year."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.