We all know that giving kids (and adults) positive incentives to work towards helps them grow and learn how to accomplish goals. So, when Scorpio was asked to help expand the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program at Keystone Heights Elementary School, we jumped at the chance. Not only does this program align with our mission to build people, but it embraces several of our core values: commitment, integrity, kindness, and responsibility.
“With PBIS, schools teach kids about behavior expectations and strategies. We explicitly teach what we expect kids to do — and reward them when they do the right thing. The focus of PBIS is prevention, not punishment. We try to spend less time punishing and way more time praising. We have created our expectations, and you see those all over campus. It is explicit. We are clear about what we expect students to do at recess, at lunch, in the hallway, and in the classroom. And our staff uses a token economy to reward them through privileges or physical items,” explained Assistant Principal James Herrholtz.
Earning Playtime
To create an exciting “token economy” for the students, Scorpio was asked to assist with the creation of an on-campus arcade. A space where students could “buy” time to play traditional games, arcade-style games, virtual reality, ping-pong, foosball, plastic darts, and more. The answer was an easy yes. Paul Stresing and Associates Architecture matched our gift, creating the Scorpio-Stresing Arcade at Keystone Heights Elementary School. Scorpio will also perform minor upgrades to an existing portable to house this exciting new addition. The Scorpio-Stresing Arcade will be operational within the next few months.
KHES Renovation
Scorpio and Stresing are currently partnered with Clay County District Schools on a significant renovation and addition to Keystone Heights Elementary School funded by the county’s ½ cent sales tax initiative. The project includes a new 29,674 sf Cafetorium, converting the existing Cafetorium into a new 9,000 sf state-of-the-art Media Center, and renovating the current 8,758 sf Media Center into six new classrooms. It also includes the replacement of the existing play court with a new covered play court, new playground equipment, campus-wide site work to improve stormwater issues and security along with re-working the carpool/drop-off lanes for safer traffic flow.