Indian Lake Elementary School continues to rack up state awards for The Laker Zone, while Indian Lake Middle School is joining in on the accomplishments. State Support Team 6 consultant Tiffini Flugga recently stopped by both buildings to present certificates.
Representatives from the Ohio Department of Education officially presented the ILES Positive Behavior Incentives and Supports Team a Silver Award for PBIS Success Tuesday recognizing The Laker Zone during the Virtual Ohio Department of Education PBIS Showcase.
The Laker Zone is a long-time positive behavior program at Indian Lake Elementary that emphasizes teaching proper behaviors, instead of punishing improper actions. In 2018, the Laker Zone underwent an overhaul with additional training for staff and added incentives for students. The reboot earned the ILES PBIS team and The Laker Zone a Bronze PBIS State Award.
The continuation of The Laker Zone program, backed by years of data on reduced office referrals and other measures of improved behavior, now puts The Laker Zone in the Silver PBIS State Award category.
“At this point, The Laker Zone is really ingrained in how we teach at Indian Lake Elementary. The expectations are clear and easy, and the kids know what it means to be living and learning “in the zone,”’ District PBIS Coordinator Pam Scarpella said.
Meantime, Indian Lake Middle School is receiving the Bronze Award for PBIS Success. In the past few years, ILMS formed a PBIS team and they built upon the lessons learned in The Laker Zone.
ILMS Co-Principal Missy Mefford said ILMS staff members created Spear Cards, similar to ILES Laker Zone Cards, to recognize unsolicited good behaviors.
“Since we instituted the Spear Cards, office referrals for discipline have gone down. It’s really improved student behaviors and attitudes,” Mefford remarked.
Finally, ILMS teachers have added “Growth Mindset” lessons over the past few years to instill a sense of hope for the future in students grades 5 through 8.
Indian Lake High School staff members have also begun handing out PBIS cards and offering a periodic “store” to redeem the cards.
Superintendent Rob Underwood said these PBIS Silver and Bronze awards highlight the district’s overall efforts to graduate young people who are not only good students, but good members of the community.
He explained that these programs serve as the basis for The Lake Effect, the Indian Lake School District’s overall PBIS and Social Emotional Learning program.
“The Indian Lake PBIS framework is yet another example of our dedicated staff proactively utilizing a research-based approach to improve student outcomes. PBIS and SEL form the foundation of the Lake Effect, which is our goal to educate the whole child.”
The “The Lake Effect” is detailed on the district’s website, www.ils-k12.org.