WEBVTT 00:00:05.246 --> 00:00:06.876 Hello, my name is Shawn Kovac. 00:00:06.876 --> 00:00:10.536 I am Principal of the Everett Area Elementary School in Everett, Pennsylvania. 00:00:10.536 --> 00:00:12.766 Our school is a rural school. 00:00:12.916 --> 00:00:16.776 We have approximately 515 students in this elementary school. 00:00:17.276 --> 00:00:22.286 Three years ago, we were looking at ways that we could increase student achievement. 00:00:22.736 --> 00:00:26.596 And when we looked at the different methods that we could go 00:00:26.596 --> 00:00:31.406 about increasing student achievement, we knew there were different instructional techniques 00:00:31.406 --> 00:00:34.866 that we could teach our teachers and that we can do with our students 00:00:34.916 --> 00:00:38.816 that would improve our scores a little bit. 00:00:38.966 --> 00:00:41.016 But we needed a broader program. 00:00:41.096 --> 00:00:45.866 We needed a school-wide program that could touch everyone, touch all students, 00:00:46.176 --> 00:00:52.306 touch the families, and involve all stakeholders in the learning of the child. 00:00:52.876 --> 00:00:58.626 And we also were looking at ways that we could decrease the amount of discipline referrals 00:00:58.626 --> 00:01:07.096 that we had in our buildings, and we needed a way to tackle some of the risk factors 00:01:07.096 --> 00:01:10.546 that were identified in our research-based programs. 00:01:11.056 --> 00:01:17.886 The program is an all-encompassing program to teach social and emotional wellness 00:01:18.176 --> 00:01:20.706 to the students in the elementary school. 00:01:21.246 --> 00:01:29.136 It also helps teachers by teaching them pro-social activities within the classrooms 00:01:29.216 --> 00:01:33.956 and different instructional activities to keep the students motivated, 00:01:34.316 --> 00:01:37.786 to keep them engaged in the classroom lessons, 00:01:38.176 --> 00:01:44.946 and it provides bonding experiences for the students to bond to the teachers 00:01:44.946 --> 00:01:47.886 and bond to the classrooms and to the school itself. 00:01:47.886 --> 00:01:50.416 It's not a curriculum per se. 00:01:50.466 --> 00:01:54.176 There are no segmented lessons that you have to teach for 15 minutes 00:01:54.176 --> 00:01:55.876 over a certain period of the week. 00:01:56.316 --> 00:02:03.476 What it is, it's a collection of best practices that we incorporate in the school. 00:02:03.616 --> 00:02:05.786 It takes four years to implement the program. 00:02:06.236 --> 00:02:08.916 Each year, we have four in-services for the teachers. 00:02:08.916 --> 00:02:13.696 And the in-services for the teachers range from teaching them how 00:02:13.796 --> 00:02:16.796 to actively engage the students in your classroom. 00:02:17.246 --> 00:02:21.606 They learn ways to keep the students engaged from bell to bell, 00:02:21.686 --> 00:02:23.906 from the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson, 00:02:24.346 --> 00:02:27.946 of course with the knowledge that the student that is engaged is less likely 00:02:28.106 --> 00:02:32.166 to become involved in discipline behavior issues. 00:02:32.396 --> 00:02:36.516 They do this through a series of classroom management lessons where they learn how 00:02:36.516 --> 00:02:42.476 to actively organize their classroom, and we've tried to bookend our K to Six program, 00:02:42.476 --> 00:02:46.266 which is our overarching program, with a Pre-K and a K program. 00:02:47.186 --> 00:02:51.866 On the other side of our K to Six program is a program that we have put in place 00:02:51.866 --> 00:02:54.996 for middle school which is six through eight. 00:02:55.066 --> 00:02:59.236 However, at this building, we do house the sixth grade. 00:02:59.236 --> 00:03:04.616 And in this program, we teach our students not only the knowledge 00:03:04.706 --> 00:03:12.876 of what antisocial behaviors can impact on them, such as smoking and drinking and fighting 00:03:12.876 --> 00:03:18.356 and so forth, through activities, we give them the knowledge and the skills on how 00:03:18.426 --> 00:03:24.206 to resist peer pressure and, to coin a phrase, "how to say no" through our overarching program 00:03:24.956 --> 00:03:27.846 to make sure that the student is bonded with the school. 00:03:28.326 --> 00:03:35.096 One of the risk factors that we as a school can attack is the antisocial bonding 00:03:35.096 --> 00:03:35.566 with the school. 00:03:35.636 --> 00:03:38.636 We want to make the student want to come to school. 00:03:39.026 --> 00:03:45.796 And we do that by promoting a social and healthy emotional atmosphere here in the school. 00:03:46.286 --> 00:03:51.876 So, our teachers will have in their classroom birthday charts with everyone's birthday listed 00:03:51.876 --> 00:03:57.196 on it, and when it's someone's birthday, they will celebrate by a special cheer or clapping. 00:03:57.526 --> 00:03:58.966 That is the student of the day. 00:03:59.536 --> 00:04:03.276 Also, as you walk through out of our classroom, you may see put-up charts. 00:04:03.546 --> 00:04:05.706 Some teachers use leaves on a tree. 00:04:06.026 --> 00:04:11.516 Other teachers use adding pictures to a wall or even just using sticky notes on a wall. 00:04:11.906 --> 00:04:15.906 And students are encouraged to give positive put-ups to each other. 00:04:16.276 --> 00:04:20.206 And when someone is given a positive put-up, they write it on the leaf on a tree, 00:04:20.516 --> 00:04:22.005 or they write it on a sticky note. 00:04:22.005 --> 00:04:27.096 And that goes up on the wall, and then everyone celebrates everyone else's positive put-ups. 00:04:27.366 --> 00:04:32.636 So again, it's encouraging students to want to be here because it's a place where they feel safe 00:04:32.636 --> 00:04:36.506 and the environment is welcoming to them. 00:04:36.506 --> 00:04:38.816 As you go through the school, you'll see posters. 00:04:39.136 --> 00:04:44.346 We want students to know that here at Everett Elementary, they have rights, 00:04:44.706 --> 00:04:47.466 they have respect, and they have a responsibility. 00:04:47.706 --> 00:04:50.476 We teach that in every classroom throughout the building, 00:04:50.476 --> 00:04:55.126 and you will see that not only in the classrooms but in the halls that they have certain rights, 00:04:55.416 --> 00:05:00.316 that they deserve respect, but they also have certain responsibilities that they have to uphold, 00:05:00.396 --> 00:05:04.496 too, in order to be an active member within the school. 00:05:04.696 --> 00:05:09.696 I could say that the impact of the behavior programs and social-emotional programs 00:05:09.696 --> 00:05:14.566 that we have implemented here at Everett Area Elementary have had a tremendously positive impact 00:05:15.156 --> 00:05:18.976 on our students, on our teachers, and on our parents as a whole.