South Forsyth, along with other schools in the county, has been working hard to improve students’ attitudes towards school. The latest solution? The newest program just launched at South Forsyth: War Eagle Way Points.
“War Eagle Way points” is the new face of the Positive Behavior Integration System (PBIS) finally being introduced to South. Some newer South students might have experienced PBIS when they participated in similar programs around the county, particularly at the middle school level. Ideally, the goal of PBIS is if students behave well, teachers will reward them with points on an app. The points students accumulate can be used to purchase stuff from the school store.
To use PBIS, teachers will see you doing something good, go to their computer, search up your name, and give you the point based on seven categories of good behavior: being kind, engaged, respectful, positive influence, including others, involvement and having school spirit.
Sounds pretty easy, right?`
As it’s a new system, there are still some bugs to work out for the implementation to be successful.
“The teachers have to start getting used to giving points to the kids, [and] it can be hard since it’s the start of the year and we don’t really know anyone’s name,” said Madison Kimbrell, a Language Arts teacher.
Teachers also said they will have to make an adjustment remembering to even give the points, a potential flaw being that some teachers will give more points than others.
Students like the new idea of these points, however, and with the fun idea of getting prizes for basically free, people are excited for the prizes. Students were randomly interviewed during their lunch and were asked if they thought the “War Eagle Way Points” were a fun new way to get them to behave.
“It makes me feel more motivated to do better and to earn points,” said Shivani Saraf, a freshman.
Most students thought the points were a good idea to implement in schools and many suggested adding brownies and other sweet treats to the list of potential prizes.
Even with some hiccups, many schools have seen improvement with PBIS when executed well, such as many of the schools in Forsyth that have already adopted the system. Even though it is new for SFHS, many freshmen have had to use PBIS at middle schools like Lakeside and South, who’ve been using the system for two years.
War Eagle Way points are a new method to try and make the school a nicer place for everyone. These efforts from the school are a way to give incentive to students, helping make the best experience for everyone involved.
