By Rebecca Rider
rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Salisbury High School is trying something new. In an effort to reward positive behavior, the school in August began awarding fictional “hornet bucks” to students who made it to school, and class, on time.

Principal Luke Brown said that the initiative is similar to many positive behavior incentive programs seen in elementary in middle schools — but typically by high school the programs peter out.

“Any time a student does something that warrants a response from an adult it’s typically bad,” Principal Luke Brown said of high schools.

Students may be reprimanded for being late to class, but not rewarded if they’re seen picking up trash in the hallway.

Salisbury High wanted to change that. Last year, Brown said, the school’s improvement team came up with the idea, and the hornet bucks system launched in August. They chose “bucks” because while points and stars may work for younger students it doesn’t hold sway in high school.
“When the kids get older they equate success with money,” Brown said.

Currently, the program is small with very concrete limits. Students are rewarded for attendance, with the bucks being applied after attendance rosters have been submitted.

“We did not base it solely on academics because we wanted everyone to be eligible,” Brown said.

The hope is that if the students show up to class, and if teachers create a positive learning environment, they’ll learn better.

“That’s the goal,” Brown said.

Students earn approximately 50 hornet bucks for each full day attended, and 20 for each class they make it to on time. If they have 95 percent attendance for a full nine weeks, their names are entered into a prize drawing.

Salisbury High School’s Parent, Teacher and Student Association hosts the drawings, which have all the build-up and punch of a pep-rally. Because of the tight leash on instructional spending, all prizes are donated — or funded by donation — and are handled by association.

There have been two award rallies this year school year, with another three planned. So far, Brown said, 60 students have won prizes that have ranged from gift cards to television sets to tickets to a Panthers game.

“We’re trying to include some things that our kids have maybe not had the opportunity to do,” Brown said.

Donors have also funded food gift cards as well as scholarships and vouchers for technology fees, school yearbooks and the school prom. Brown said he hopes the vouchers will relieve some of the burden on families who may be struggling.

“We wanted it to be a benefit to everybody,” he said.

At the end of each nine-weeks, students’ accrued balance is reset to zero. It’s a feature the team decided to implement to ensure that no single student gets so far behind that he or she can never catch up.

“You can do better next time,” Brown said.

And they have been seeing progress. Brown said that the number of students who qualified for the drawing increased between the first and second rally, and school data does show a slight increase in attendance numbers over last year’s. But Brown and staff at Salisbury High School know they still have a ways to go.

“It’s not the end-all be-all program,” Brown said. “It’s not fixed everything.”

But it’s given them enough to hope.

In the next few months, Salisbury High should launch an app that will keep track of students’ hornet bucks. The app would list categories of behaviors students can earn bucks for. If a staff member sees a student doing something positive, they can scan an I.D. number assigned to the student to apply the funds.

Adding the app and other ways to collect hornet bucks will also allow students who have missed days or classes due to illness or other reasons catch up.

Brown said the school is working on trying to find a long-term funding solution for the program so that it can run independently. All funds would be handled by the parent, teacher and student association, and not by the school itself. Anyone interested in donating should contact Principal Luke Brown at luke.brown@rss.k12.nc.us.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.