2011-12 DE-PBS Annual Celebration

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Dover, DE 

Checkout the Celebration Photo Gallery

Nearly 200 educators, administrators and other school professionals celebrated the success of Positive Behavior Support programs in their schools at the Delaware Positive Behavior Support (DE-PBS) Annual Celebration Conference on April 25.

The conference theme was “Give a Hoot about DE-PBS!” Participants were encouraged to “Owl-ways be wise, use DE-PBS” and reminded that “Owl you need is DE-PBS.” The vision of the DE-PBS project is to create safe and caring learning environments that promote the social-emotional and academic development of all children. This vision requires comprehensive, systematic and individualized interventions and supports.

Teams from four schools presented their schools’ way of delivering these individualized interventions and supports. At Eisenberg Elementary School in the Colonial School District, at-risk students formed grade level groups focused on the development of social skills. Newark High School in the Christina School District utilizes a PBS student organization to make PBS events and character education lessons an integral part of the school community. Millsboro Middle School in the Indian River School District implemented a PBS Rocks kids club that uses monthly incentives and “golden tickets” to encourage students to share what they know in a positive way. At Etta J. Wilson Elementary School in Christina, the PBS team focuses on sustaining the program from year to year. They used information from school climate surveys and student behavior referrals to adapt PBS to fit the needs of their students and school.

Laura Riffel, Ph.D., was the keynote speaker at the conference. Dr. Riffel is a behaviorist who specializes in positive behavioral interventions and effective strategies for classroom teachers of students with academic or behavioral difficulties. She offered recommendations and information to the participants about motivating staff at their schools to promote PBS and the importance of building relationships with students in order for interventions to be effective. Many participants noted that they were inspired by all the ideas presented, and they were excited to get back to their classes and implement new strategies immediately.

Other schools shared aspects of their PBS programs through poster presentations. Participants were encouraged to visit each poster during breaks to learn how other schools promote PBS with diverse groups of students. For example, Brandywine Community School—an alternative setting in the Brandywine School District—uses art therapy techniques to deliver visual and tangible interventions to help all students develop coping skills. At Warner Elementary School in the Red Clay School District, the PBS team targets bus referrals by having staff members take ownership of the bus behavior on their “adopted” bus. Morris Early Childhood Center in the Milford School District implements PBS at the kindergarten level using the school motto, ABC—Act Safely, Be a Friend, Choose Manners. One attendee was pleased that so many wonderful ideas were shared during the poster presentation time, and it was most helpful to “be able to speak with other teachers to see how successful PBS is in their school.”

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Materials from 2010-11 Celebration:
DE-PBS Annual Celebration – What’s Cookin’ With DE-PBS?