Program rewards peace on bus
It’s back to the sixties for the staff and students at Cox-Donahey Elementary School. With peace signs and tie-dyed shirts, the kindergarten- through fifth-grade school in the Brownsville Area School District is working to make school buses a more peaceful place.
Using a program adopted from the Intermediate Unit 1 and tweaked to suit Cox-Donahey, the teachers implemented the Peaceful Bus Program at the start of the school year.
Since the program began, school officials have seen a decline in the number of discipline slips issued against students.
“We’re trying to erase that attitude of ‘me, me, me’ and we are seeing a difference,” said kindergarten teacher Rae Lyn Duke.
A team of 11 teachers, who make up the school’s anti-bullying team, initiated the program with the support of Principal Connie Horka.
The community pitched in to make the program unique to Cox-Donahey.
“I sought support from the community and they came through graciously,” said Duke.
Frank Ricco with Brownsville Bus Lines donated a school bus, which Duke’s husband, Greg, transformed into a learning and play space for students by stripping out the interior seats.
The bus is furnished with beanbag chairs, a few bench-style bus seats and magnetic letters so students can practice spelling.
School officials plan to attach a sliding board, donated by Lowes in Uniontown, to the back of the bus and place an electric heater, donated by Braddock Restoration in Brownsville, inside the bus to warm it during the winter so teachers can deliver classroom lessons inside the bus.
The start of the program was prompted by bus drivers complaining about student discipline on the bus. School officials received reports of students shouting, tripping others because their foot was in the aisle and standing up when not permitted.
With safety rules being posted and reviewed and an incentive program to reward students for good bus behavior in place, teachers are hoping the discipline slips continue to decline.
“(The students) took ownership in the rules and they understand why there are the rules,” said Duke. “We’re not ramming it down their throat. There is an ownership there.”
Students interviewed said the new program has made the bus a quieter place. They said they like to ride the bus.
“The bus is more peaceful and quieter than before,” said second grader Bre-yona Zetty. “No one is jumping out of the seats. No one else is calling anyone else names.”
“You don’t have to have headaches,” said second grader Kasee Baker, who is paired with two older students.
“It’s safer,” said another student. “You’re not worried about getting yelled at.”
Parents like the safety aspect of the program, too, said third-grade teacher Natalie Doman.
“Parents know this is to help keep school safe and they like that,” Doman said.
Bus drivers, apprehensive at first, have seemed to come on board, said Horka, who plans to meet with bus drivers to review bus safety rules and teachers’ expectations of students.
“The bus driver’s job is to drive and this program helps the drivers do their job,” she said.
Grouped into bus teams, each with a different animal as their mascot, students and teachers are racing to become the bus issued the fewest discipline slips during a nine-week grading period.
If they succeed, that team will be rewarded a prize, which could vary from additional playtime or relay races to lunch with the principal.
“It’s helping each other, doing nice things, teaching them to be good on the bus and in school,” said Doman. “It’s all about being part of a team, family they don’t have. A school family.”
Another component of the program is pairing each younger child with an older student to assist in everyday obstacles and provide extra support. This smaller team can work together to help achieve the main goal.
“We encourage students that they are a team and to look after one another. The bigger kids are embracing the younger ones,” said Duke.
Indications point to the program as reversing a trend of students turning to bad behavior to fit in with their fellow classmates.
“They don’t want to be the one who messes up the bus,” said Doman. “(The students) get the reward, but are trying to keep out of trouble while trying to help their fellow students be on the good team.”
This is a second component of the school’s anti-bullying effort.
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, implemented in spring 2007, has brought bullying in the school to a minimum, according to the teachers.
Similar results have been found at schools across the state, a recent study revealed.
Findings of the study, announced by the Highmark Foundation, through its Highmark Healthy High 5 initiative, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Windber Research Institute and the Center for Safe Schools, showed that a school’s implementation of the Olweus model for at least a 12-month period had positive effects, including reducing bullying behaviors and increases in perceived school climate and culture.
The study will be finalized in November and released in conjunction with the International Bullying Prevention Association’s annual conference, to be held Nov. 17 and 18 in Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, as teachers continue to adapt the program as it suits the school’s need, they are looking for inexpensive ways to reward the students for good bus behavior. Donations of stickers, treats, craft projects delivered by volunteers from the community or other incentives will be considered.