At WSHS, a section of the school store has been designated as the PBS store where students can cash in their Bear Bucks for items such as food, spirit gear and other fun stuff. PBS is open every day, during both lunches but not in the mornings. PBS stands for positive behavior system. What can you get at PBS you may ask? Students can get all kinds of snacks just for $1, balloons to celebrate birthdays or other occasions sell for $2, and class shirts for $10. 

The snacks available at PBS are fairly consistent each week. Students can earn Bear Bucks from their teachers and our administrators that can be used to buy items at the PBS store. Students can also use their Bear Bucks to enter raffles for prizes such as Homecoming tickets, Tailgate/football game tickets, or a free yearbook. Bear Bucks are earned by students interacting positively towards each other, and by helping other students. Last year, this system of positive currency worked very well at the school. It was just one of many incentives to promote positive interactions at WSHS.

Recently The Bear Truth had the opportunity to talk with assistant principal Mrs. Draus and Mrs.Lord more in depth about the PBS program. They were more than happy to elaborate on the details of the PBS program that they are both proud to be a part of at WSHS. Mrs. Draus spoke about the PBS Award and what our school did to achieve this. The award is a 3 part prong. 

1. Positive behavioral support system in place. WSHS uses the Bear Bucks reward system.
2. Code PBS (Part of school culture). WSHS has established the Bear Code which is Believe, Engage, Achieve, and Reflect.
3. PBS Program must have a positive impact on students’ discipline data. For WSHS, “this means reward students who have had repeat referrals each week for NOT repeating that referral offense again.” according to Draus.

It is obvious that the PBS award system is not just something WSHS embodies one time out of a year. As Mrs.Draus explained, “We continue to strengthen the integration of the PBS system into the fabric and the culture of our school.”

Furthermore, when asked what the award means to the school, Mrs. Draus had this to say, “To me personally it represents a great collaborative effort of several people at our school. It represents teachers, staff , and administration who want to notice the positive things on campus. The PBS program involves the entire school body. Everyone plays a part in promoting and encouraging the students. This stems from the incentives the school offers like the lunches and sponsoring the honor roll initiative. Providing financial needs to classes that have achieved something great, ie; reading classes who have done well in their curriculum”. 

Mrs. Draus also shared how proud she is of the fact that in our first year, “We received the model school accomplishment and continue to hold this title.” Mrs. Draus would also like to add that Ms. Lord and Ms.Collins are a huge piece of what makes this program happen. There is also positive feedback coming from the students with Bear Bucks as well. Aailyah Collazo, a 10th grader at WSHS said, “I like getting Bear Bucks, I usually get chips or whatever I can with them.”