Lincoln School rewards good behavior with a 'PAW'

“Positive Attitudes Working Successfully” is a motto that Lincoln Elementary School students are expected to live by.

PAWS, the school-wide implemented positive behavior program, rewards students caught behaving favorably with paw-shaped paper tokens, which can later be redeemed for prizes or other incentives.

According to fifth-grade teacher Kathryn Martin, the program is having a positive impact on student behavior.

“We have experienced some valuable progress from most of our school community,” she said. “For example, compared to our 2006 school population, students have increased their level of consideration of staff and of one another. Another positive result is in the orderly way students move through the building.”

At the beginning of each school year, students receive a “Lincoln Student Success Guide.” The booklet is complete with expectations for actions in the classroom, in hallways, on the playground and other school activities.

Students can be rewarded by any staff member for positive behavior. Paws are earned when students are caught performing positive acts including being kind, helping others and performing well in class.

“Mrs. Martin has told us if we bring in our homework everyday and have our parent’s signature (in their student planners) we get two paws,” said fifth-grade student Abby Mitchell, 11. “If you have your homework, but no signature, you only get one paw (and vice versa).”

Paws are used to buy prizes or rewards ranging from small prizes like a Jolly Rancher or bubble gum to being allowed to sit in a rocking chair for an hour during class time. Each teacher determines which rewards are available to his or her students.

“At the end of each month, all students attend a raffle and PAWS Party,” Martin said. “We hold fundraisers, like the upcoming holiday bazaar, to pay for the party snacks and buy raffle prizes.”

Paws are not only earned on an individual basis, but can be rewarded to an entire class.

“If the whole class does something good, we get a big paw,” said Coby Clelland, 11, another of Martin’s fifth-grade students.

A teacher cannot give his or her class a big paw. They are received from another staff member who witnesses the class as a whole performing a positive act like standing in line properly.

Although the incentives have helped to improve behavior at the school, negative behavior does not go unnoticed.

“If students are noncompliant with the rules, they are warned verbally, experience a decrease in their daily conduct or effort grades, and, if consistently noncompliant, earn what the PAWS Program calls a ‘ticket,’” Martin said.

Once a student is issued a ticket, he or she must write an apology letter and read it to the offended party. The ticket and apology letter are sent home, signed by a parent and returned to school, where the student’s teacher and principal each keep a copy.

Ten-year-old Sara Helms said in her fifth-grade-class students received tickets if they do not turn in three homework assignments, earn a “D” or an “F” in conduct, fail to follow directions and are mean or rude to others.

Mitchell said that she and her classmates are learning valuable life lessons from the program. She picked up one important piece of advice from Principal Liz Ozog that she said she tries to live by.

“Mrs. Ozog says every morning that you should treat  people how you would want to be treated,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s very important.”
Helms said she enjoys participating in PAWS because it teaches students responsibility and “how to be respectful.”

“It’s also getting us ready for junior high and high school so we know what is expected,” Mitchell added.

A team of staff members volunteer their time and meet twice each month to discuss the program and what can be done to better meet the needs of the students.

“We still have situations that could improve, but we have a foundation in place,” Martin said. “Looking back to students’ behavior of five years ago, Lincoln Lions have come a long way toward being better community members.”