DOBSON — Students in Surry County Schools have exposure to a number of programs ranging from those designed to promote good behavior, those for students who want to be entrepreneurs and even those who want a different high school experience.

At the Surry County Schools Board of Education retreat Monday and Tuesday, board members had the chance to see how these programs are going and what is in store for the coming year.

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support is a program that was implemented in all of the county’s schools this year after Franklin Elementary experienced success with it previously. The program is designed to reward students for positive behavior instead of just focusing on negative behavior.

A representative from the program visited Surry County Schools this year to evaluate how the programs are progressing. She visited Copeland Elementary School, Central Middle School and East Surry High School to evaluate the programs and spoke to teachers, students, staff and even substitutes.

“She said for them to do that well on the first evaluation is phenomenal,” said Jennifer Scott, director of communications, who also said the representative was hesitant to visit a school system that implemented the program in every school at one time.

The three schools had different experiences because they serve students of different ages. They had to approach the situation in different ways to appeal to the students with age-appropriate rewards.

“I was a little bit anxious before we started this. Not only did it work, the teachers loved it,” said Denny Barr, principal at Copeland Elementary. “We started last summer putting things into place. It really cut down on a lot of problems we’ve had.”

Implementing the program in elementary schools seemed to be easier than in upper level schools because they were starting to teach behavior at the ground floor. Schools posted signs in each area of the school detailing what behavior was expected of students in those areas and teachers spent the first couple weeks of school taking their students through each area and pointing out the behaviors.

“The behavior is light-years better at the elementary schools. The younger they are, the easier it is to implement,” said Barr. “I think the real difference is going to be seen five or six years down the road. That’s how you build it — you start with them in kindergarten and hopefully they’ll carry it with them.”

At Central Middle, Principal Janet Atkins said the signs posted around the school for the program are something they did not have before. After the evaluation, she said something they are going to work towards next year is making the behavior system focus more on the positive rather than the negative. She said students who lose points for bad behavior need to have a way to earn points for good behavior as well.

“The vague part of that for some of our kids was they didn’t know how to get positive recognition,” she said. “Eventually doing the right thing has to be its own reward. They have to learn that I am my own reward.”

Atkins said the school announces good citizens in the morning and afternoon of each day. This is a list of students who did something positive during the day from opening the door for someone or helping carry supplies into the school. It does not necessarily have to be an academic accomplishment or an athletic accomplishment that gets them recognition. She also hands out T-shirts that say “I got caught being good,” which she said the students really want to earn.

Diane Beane, principal at East Surry High School, feels the program works at her school but has had to look for ways to motivate the students. The high school allows teachers to fill out referrals for positive behavior for students each day. At the end of each week, a name is drawn from the referrals and that student gets to have lunch from a restaurant. The names also are printed in the faculty newsletter so every faculty member knows who was recognized for positive behavior.

“You have to feel good about yourself and feel good about what you’re doing,” she said. “We try to make it a big deal for students. It helps teachers start to look for good things in the kids.”

Administrators hope to work this summer to figure out ways to share data with the faculty more often and to instill in them what merits a trip to the office and what needs to be dealt with in the classroom.

“I really believe there is a culture of good behavior, manners and decency that pervades our school system. You could not ask for better representatives of our school system than our kids,” said Dr. Ashley Hinson, superintendent. “I believe the principal plays such a key role. I believe this system will work at every single school that the principals believes in it.”

Surry Early College High School of Design

Surry Early College High School of Design had its first graduates this year, a full year ahead of schedule. With a first full class set to graduate next spring and no drop-outs to day, the school looks to have the largest graduating class from an early college in the state.

Principal Celia Hodges anticipates a 100-percent graduation rate for those remaining from the first class. Some students have graduated but the 74 remaining student, including the 11 recent graduates, are all set to complete the program with a high school diploma and some college credit. She said that about 85 percent of the cohort also will have a degree from Surry Community College.

“It is a work in progress. It is the largest in the state,” said Dr. Terri Mosley, assistant superintendent.

Blake Hetrick, who just graduated from the Early College and will attend Campbell University in the fall, spoke to the board about his experiences at the school.

“I decided to come to the Early College kind of late in the process. I always imagined myself going to a regular high school,” he said. “I can’t express how much the Early College has helped me as far as studying, as far as work ethic. I’ve learned how to study. I’ve learned how to prepare for a test.”

For Hetrick, the smaller class sizes, each year admits around 80 students, were a big selling point for his experiences at the school.

“I loved our school, because it was smaller and you really got to know everybody. You’ve got people who can pick you up when you’re down,” he said. “I can honestly say that I’ve had a conversation with every single person in our class more than once.”

The Early College does not offer sports nor does it offer as many clubs for students to join as a traditional high school. However, students feel that there is a trade-off for not having those opportunities.

“The more I’ve gone to school, the more I’ve realized in the early college environment you realize there’s more important things,” said Hetrick, who also said that he has gotten involved in acting because of a visit to the school by Brack Llewellyn during his first year, something he would not have done otherwise.

“It would appear to me that students feel freer to be themselves. That probably is as important to me as anything,” said Dr. Ashley Hinson, superintendent.

When asked if he would recommend the board continue funding the Early College even though money is tight, Hetrick said they should because of the unique opportunities it provides to students.

“You have to realize it’s not the same as a regular high school,” said Hetrick. “For some people, they need this for an education.”

Project YES

Project Youth Entrepreneurship Surry has allowed a select group of high school students from across the county to learn more about entrepreneurship and what it takes to start a new business.

As one of the projects this past year, participants were asked to create a plan for a business they would like to start in the county. Marissa Cockerham, a rising junior at Surry Early College High School of Design, teamed up with another student to create a plan for Mount Airy Bike Rentals. According to the plan, they would rent bicycles to people along the walking trail that moves through Mount Airy.

Since the presentation to a panel of judges, which she and her partner won, Cockerham has decided that creating a plan was not enough.

“I’m actually planning on opening this by myself,” she said. “I talked to the city and they agreed to let me open it, so I’m looking for sponsors for the bikes.”

She plans to start with 10 to 15 bikes at the end of this month or in early July and expand from there. In addition to this being the result of an assignment for Project YES, Cockerham has taken it a step further and plans to use the business as her senior graduation project.