STARKVILLE — The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has launched a new initiative with its transportation department to reward good student behavior exhibited by bus riders using the “positive behavior interventions and supports” approach to behavior management.
The B.U.S. initiative is designed to encourage and reward students who demonstrate positive behavior on our school buses by following our motto: Be responsible (B), use respect (U) and stay safe (S).
“We are very excited to begin the B.U.S. positive behavior initiative with our students this school year,” said Anna Guntharp, assistant superintendent for federal programs, special education and preschool. “Bus transportation is a necessity for many of our families, and we want every child to feel safe and valued on their ride to and from school. By training our transportation staff to provide this reward system, we hope we can encourage students to be their best selves on the bus.”
The purpose of the initiative is to prepare students for their day by working with parents, school staff and transportation staff to provide a positive environment where students feel safe on the bus. Behavioral specialists find that a recognized behavior in students is typically a repeated behavior. Therefore, one of the most important ways we can support and help our students be successful is to recognize their good behavior.
Students who demonstrate positive behavior (following directions, using kind words, staying seated, etc.) on our buses during the 2024-2025 school year will receive a B.U.S. “ticket” from their bus driver. Each ticket enters a student into a raffle to be conducted each nine-weeks to award one student with $125 in cash as a reward for good behavior.
Funding for this positive behavior reward has been generously provided for the school year by Jacket Alumni dad, Thomas Stewart, who is owner of the Architectonics professional architecture firm in Starkville.
As part of the B.U.S. program, members of the SOCSD Transportation Department and our bus driver staff received training in positive behavior management. Many received this training for the first time and learned ways to encourage positive behavior in a bus situation through sharing expectations, addressing individual behavior as needed, and even techniques for managing behavior more effectively.
“We hope to have parent support as we begin implementing the B.U.S. program,” Guntharp said. “The tickets children receive as a reward for good behavior on the bus have a portion they will bring home to show their parents. As parents work with us to reinforce expectations, we look forward to seeing how our students respond with excellence.”
The first raffle drawing for the B.U.S. program will be on Wednesday.
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