Harker School uses the theme Comet Pride as part of Character Education and Positive Behavior Support in Schools (PBSIS). The program encourages students to demonstrate, promote, and celebrate Comet Pride.
The Positive Behavior Support in Schools framework is associated with increases in positive student outcomes and decreases in behavioral infractions as measured by office behavior incident referral and suspension data. In New Jersey, consistent high fidelity implementation of PBSIS has resulted in an average of a 21% decrease in referrals to the office for behavior infractions and a 30% average decrease in out of school suspensions.
Our PBSIS program allows faculty and staff members to participate by handing out Comet Cash to students who demonstrate positive behavior related to our six stars of stellar character. Students can earn Comet Cash for demonstrating positive character traits in the bus lanes, in the hallways, during lunch/recess, and in the classroom.
Our Comet Cash highlights the six stars of stellar character so student(s) can be recognized for demonstrating a specific trait.When a student is given Comet Cash, they will be thanked for demonstrating the character trait and told what they are being recognized for. The Comet Cash will then be placed in the classroom, Comet Cash Collector.
Our classroom specific PBSIS program is Lucky Duck. Every morning I pick a random duck from our pond that is numbered for each student. At the end of the day if our ducky has been stellar they get to spin the prize wheel as a reward. Prizes on our board include: book coins, bookmarks, smencils and fidgets. I change the prizes with the season. The students love asking who was the ducky today and they race over when the student spins to see what they get. They never let me forget to tell them who the ducky is.