Everyone should have pride; Pride in their school, their town, their state and their country. At Mont Harmon Middle School, pride is spelled PRIDE.

PRIDE is a program to help students to not only achieve academically, but also socially and as good citizens of the school. To students at Mont Harmon, PRIDE also means good stuff.

“We got the idea for PRIDE from Altamont High School,” said Vice Principal Karen Bedont. “They have been using the program at their school for some time now and it has been very effective.

But what is it?

PRIDE is a way of rewarding students for great academics and great behavior. The program works at several levels; daily, weekly, monthly and also for the year. The word PRIDE is an acronym for Personal Responsibility, Respect, Integrity, Discipline and Engagement.

Each day teachers in the building give out three blue cards (called Pirate PRIDE cards) to three different students that display the tenants of PRIDE. These cards represent what is basically an attaboy, for being a great person or doing a great job. Each day the cards are submitted to the administration by the student who gets another “kudo” for doing a great job. Then each afternoon just before school is out, three students win something good through a drawing that takes place in the main hall. These prizes are usually worth about $5.

Each day each teacher also calls the parents of one of the students who got a card to tell them about it and why it was given to the student. This gives the teacher and the parents a good chance to communicate positively.

All the daily cards are also entered into a weekly drawing where larger prizes are given and a drawing is held at the end of each week. The two weekly prizes awarded are worth between $50 and $100 each.

There is also a Pirate Blue Card (a monthly card) that is given to students who show improvement in their academics each month. Each teacher selects three students that get this card based on their growth in the classroom or academic proficiency. There are two prizes a month for this card that are drawn worth $150-$250 per prize.

Then there is the Pirate Gold card (an end of year card). This card is given to a student who shows improvement or growth on the Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence test (SAGE) or who scores a three or a four on the test. Each student has the ability to earn up to six of these yearly cards (two in each of the three academic areas of the test, one for mastery the other for improvement). The prizes for winning that drawing are large, high dollar volume prizes and are presently in the planning stages for the end of the year.

“Since we started this program we are already seeing changes in the students behaviors and achievement,” said Bedont. “Our behavioral referrals are down, the tardies are down and we can see that kids attitudes are better.”

Tied in with this are also celebrations that are held for class achievements and even individuals student achievements. On the celebration days, the faculty wear Hawaiian shirts and do a party for the students involved.

“The celebrations are a lot of fun,” said Bedont. “When the kids see we have the Hawaiian shirts on, they want to know who is getting a party.”

Bedont said the PRIDE program has been supported strongly by the business community, which contributes many of the prizes. The long list of sponsors include Peczuh Printing, BODEC, Eastern Utah Community Credit Union, The Tony Basso Group, Castleview Hospital, Auto Farm, Cedar Hills Storage, Sutherlands, Frank’s Glass, Tram Electric, Market Express, Waxie, Original Creations, USU Eastern, TR Electric, Price Theaters and Birch Electric.

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