By Edward Lynn, Editor
The local elementary school recently concluded a successful school-wide fundraising event centered around the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiative, which coincided with Valentine’s Day celebrations. The creative campaign, which encouraged students to ‘fill the calendar’ with kindness, saw them bringing back their calendar cards, as well as $15 to contribute to various PBIS activities and prizes.
“It was basically a month centered around kindness,” recalled McKristie Willard, Preschool-First Grade Principal. “When students were ‘caught’ doing an act of kindness, metaphorically filling someone’s bucket, they got to write on their name on the poster, and when the poster was filled up, the whole classroom got an ice cream party.” Unkind acts, conversely, were considered to be “draining” someone’s metaphorical “bucket”.
The fundraising event was a part of the school’s broader PBIS program, which aims to enhance the school environment by focusing on positive behaviors and reinforcing them through various means. This year’s PBIS fundraising efforts will help support activities such as movie theater trips, whole-school BINGO sessions, restocking the Eagles Nest school store, and the much-loved classroom ice cream parties.
For each kind act recorded, the students’ names were written on a classroom poster, symbolizing the filling of their classmates’ metaphorical buckets. Once their names were on the poster, students had the chance to be entered into a drawing to play Plinko, a game where participants drop a chip into a board filled with pegs, aiming to land it in a high-scoring slot at the bottom. This additional incentive added an element of excitement to the kindness focused PBIS initiative.
“They loved it, they had a lot of fun with it,” said Willard, reflecting on the students’ enthusiasm for the program. “The PBIS fundraising event not only raised much-needed funds for our school initiatives but also promoted a culture of kindness and compassion among our young learners.”
By combining fundraising with the promotion of good behavior, the school has successfully engaged students, parents, and the community in fostering a more supportive and uplifting environment; while also raising funds to keep the school experience fun for students. A real win/win scenario.
