School emphasizing good behavior

MILLVILLE, Cache County (AP) — A few years ago, teacher Jill Knighton said she had a student who said there were no rules about how he should behave in the halls.

There were rules, the Millville Elementary third-grade teacher said, but no one really knew what they were or what happened to kids who didn't follow them.

That's changed, however.

At Millville and several other local schools, a Utah State Office of Education program called the Utah Behavior Initiative has been implemented. Those who saw the children's behavior before UBI say things have definitely improved.

"We set up a positive behavior support system in the schools," Millville Principal Maria Nielsen said.

The program is a schoolwide positive behavior support system. Every faculty member knows how to reinforce positive behavior and punish bad behavior. Although every school's system operates a little differently, at Millville children receive "tickets" for good choices and can collect enough for in-school prizes.

Terry Humphreys is Cache County School District's coordinator of behavioral services. She monitors nine schools in the county each in a different stage of UBI implementation, including Millville, which is in its second year.

"Students learn more in environments that are positive, predictable and safe," she said.

UBI is implemented through grants from the state.

The money is used for specialized training and financial support for positive reinforcements. Schools like White Pine Middle School are in a planning year. UBI will be implemented next fall at the Richmond school.

On the other hand, North Cache 8-9 Center started using UBI five years ago. It has seen drastic changes, Humphreys said, including more than a 40 percent in the number of students referred to the office for problem behavior over the past five years.

At Millville, Nielsen said building visitors comment on the school's atmosphere.

"They recognize a positive environment," she said.

Those visitors include Julianne Duffin, a parent who has sent children to Millville for six years.

"They always have a teacher in charge, and they are walking in two lines and walking quietly," she said. "They know ... that they're going to have to answer for their actions."