Continuing the positive changes to the Respect and Protect Program, principals of Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, Marlinton Middle School and Pocahontas County High School shared their changes with the board of education Monday night.

GBEMS principal Melvin Lindsey said he entered the school year, and his first year as a principal, with a positive outlook, and has taken that positivity to the classrooms.

ﾓIﾒm a firm believer that if Iﾒm upbeat, the staff will be upbeat and it will rub off on the kids,ﾔ he said. ﾓWe changed the form and called it Fly Right. That way we can say something positive about the kids instead of trying to identify, catch and punish.ﾔ

Lindsey said the school is piloting a program called ﾓCatch Them Doing Something Right.ﾔ With this program, he plans to issue the students wings when they display good behavior. Having the students ﾓearn their wingsﾔ will be a way for them to own the program.

Other rewards include a visit to the gift cart every nine weeks and a fresh air/free time day every four-and-a-half weeks.

ﾓWhen we talk to the kids, what they want most is free time,ﾔ Lindsey said.

MMS put the BIF (Behavioral Identification Form) through a major overhaul and had the students make changes to it.

ﾓLast year, we had the students take the BIF and look at it to decide what needed to be where,ﾔ MMS principal Joe Riley said. ﾓMs. [Chris] Campbell took one of her classes and they rewrote the form. It worked out really well, because students saw issues way worse than we did. We had something at a stage two and they thought it should be a stage three, so they moved those things. We also renamed it the ﾑRespect and Protect Interventionﾒ form.ﾔ

Riley said he and the Respect and Protect team are working on rewards for every nine weeks, but the school has daily rewards that seem to excite the students.

ﾓWe have a Smartboard in the cafeteria and we show PowerPoint slide shows during lunch,ﾔ he said. ﾓWe take pictures of the students during the day and update the slide show for them. We have also had parents make DVDs of ballgames and play those at lunch.ﾔ

Stickers and stars are daily rewards. Riley said he witnessed a student who dropped his books. Four girls, without being asked to, helped the student pick up his books and Riley had their teacher give them stickers for assisting a fellow student.

Stars are issued to a class as a whole and if the class receives at least four out of five in one week, it receives a reward

With the word of the day, Riley said the school is focusing on words related to respect and the schoolﾒs ﾓFour Ps,ﾔ prompt, prepared, productive and polite.

At PCHS, principal Tom Sanders said the school is creating a positive climate by staying happy, being understanding and opening the doors of communication with the students.

ﾓWe took time to establish rules in our classrooms,ﾔ he said. ﾓClassroom management skills need to be the same for every class, so we established what was going to happen when a student comes to class without supplies. It wasnﾒt going to be a write-up. The quicker you can take care of that without a class disturbance means youﾒre saving class instruction time.ﾔ

For the reward system, the school is utilizing Warrior Bucks.

ﾓWe donﾒt have our school store open yet, but students are allowed to use those to get into ballgames,ﾔ Sanders said. ﾓAlthough, Bob Martin, the lawyer, has been paying for the students to go to the football games on Friday nights.ﾔ

Martin explained Tuesday morning that he wanted to help students who could not afford to attend games.

ﾓI did this in Charleston and around the Kanawha Valley,ﾔ he said. ﾓMy purpose is to pay for kids who canﾒt afford to go.ﾔ

The attorney recently bought land in Pocahontas County and plans to move here.

In updates:

ﾕ Hillsboro Elementary School principal Ricky Sharp shared the schoolﾒs test scores with the board and said that, although students scored higher than years past, the school did not make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). Sharp said he thought the school failed in meeting AYP because the overall score requirement was raised.

Board members Jan McNeel and Kenneth Vance suggested that Sharp and his staff visit a school with similar demographics that had higher test scores to see what can be done differently.

ﾕ Math teachers Louisa Kiner and Samantha McClure reported on the Hidden Promise Summer Math Institute they attended at Glenville State College. Kiner said they attended a panel discussion on the Next Generation Content Standards, which will be implemented as the new CSOs. The training also included information on Acuity and how to raise test scores.

ﾕ Director of Student Services, Special Education and Technology Ruth Bland reported that preschool has started and there are nine slots available at HES, Marlinton Elementary School and School Days Day Care. GBEMS has a waiting list of 10 with no open slots. Bland explained that according to the State Department of Education, in 2011-2012 schools will not be allowed to have a waiting list. With this law, Bland said GBEMS will need a second preschool teacher and a room will need renovations.

The special education classes will be monitored by the state office of special programs some time this year. Bland said the office will contact her two weeks before it visits the schools. Filing systems, inventories and purchasing, as well as the classrooms will be monitored for one week. If any deficiencies are identified, the schools will be given a certain amount of time to correct them.

The school system received $17,417.35 from eRate for infrastructure at GBEMS and PCHS. eRate money is given to schools that have at least 80 percent of its population on free or reduced lunch.

ﾕ Director of Food Services Cheri Hall could not attend the meeting, but sent an email with updates. Hall is forming a student panel at PCHS to provide more insight into the popular menu items. She is working with ProStart teacher Teresa Mullen to make healthy snacks for the panel to sample. If the recipes are a hit, Hall will ask the cooks to incorporate them into the lunch menu.

ﾕ Student representative Chloe Bland was at a volleyball game, but also gave a report via email. The PCHS forestry team, Steven Casto, Spencer Carr, Drew Caloccia and Jed Sheets, placed first at the state competition and will travel to Nationals to compete. Overall, Casto placed first and Caloccia placed third individually. Seniors will attend college day at Davis & Elkins College on Friday.

In financial management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Payment of vendor listing of claims in the amount of $1,145.59.

ﾕ Payment of vendor listing of claims in the amount of $107,459.90.

ﾕ Treasurerﾒs Report and Revenue and Expenditures Summary.

ﾕ Annual Financial Statements of the Pocahontas County Board of Education for fiscal year ending June 30.

In personnel management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Employment of Jean O. Srodes as Academic/Special Education Interventionist at Marlinton Middle School, effective September 28 through May 18, 2012, at $20 per hour, not to exceed three hours per day, as needed, and not to exceed $7,500. Schedule to be determined by the principal but cannot be extended beyond May 18, 2012.

ﾕ Resignation of Phillip C. Anderson as head boys basketball coach at Marlinton Middle School, effective for the 2011-2012 season.

ﾕ Employment of Michael S. Knisely as Athletic Director/Coordinator at Pocahontas County High School, effective September 27, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 fiscal year at a supplement of $774.

ﾕ Creation of position of itinerant teacher of special education, half-time, multi-categorical/autism, grades five-adult, effective October 26, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 school year. Term of employment is 150 one-half days. Assignment, Marlinton Middle School.

ﾕ Employment of Bradley C. Landis as Electrician I, General Maintenance, Heating and Air Conditioning Mechanic I, Painter, Plumber I and Asbestos Management for Pocahontas County School, retroactive to September 26, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Term of employment is 200 days. Note: 261-day employment each year thereafter.

ﾕ Employment of Erica Vaughan as substitute teacher for Pocahontas County Schools, effective September 27, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 school year, as needed.

ﾕ Employment of the following, as substitute mechanics for Pocahontas County Schools, effective September 27, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 fiscal year, as needed: Ian Bennett, Michael J. Shisler and Jamie C. Walker for emergency use only.

ﾕ Employment of Larry D. Sharp and Michael J. Shisler as substitute school bus operators for Pocahontas County Schools, effective September 27, for the remainder of the 2011-2012 fiscal year, as needed.

ﾕ Employment of Ruth A. Bland as technology coordinator for Pocahontas County Schools, retroactive to August 1 through June 30, 2012, as needed, at $20 per hour for 150 hours.

ﾕ Employment of Susan A. Borror as Homeless Liaison, retroactive to August 22 through May 25, 2012, at $20 per hour, 10 hours per week, as needed, not to exceed $7,400.

ﾕ Employment of Lesa A. Allen as itinerant special education classroom aide/bus aide for Pocahontas County Schools, assignment Pocahontas County High School, effective September 28 for the remainder of the 2011-2012 school year. Term of employment is 170 days. Board bus at Marlinton Middle School at 6:15 a.m. and return in the evening at 4:45 p.m.

In miscellaneous management, the board approved the following:

ﾕ Travel requests for September 26.

ﾕ Pocahontas County FFA Chapter, six students and three chaperones, to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 19-22.

ﾕ To dispose of surplus inventory items through a yard sale with all proceeds to go to each individual school.