Middle school students get 'caught' being good

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Shannon Ofiara
  • Det. 6, Air Force News Agency
LAJES FIELD, Azores (AFPN) --  No talking in class. No running in the halls. No chewing gum. 

Although the rules vary from school to school, some students often find themselves on the wrong end of a meeting with their teachers.

There is no exception for students at the Lajes American School. With just more than 400 students in the entire school, it's pretty easy to get noticed for all the wrong reasons.

"Of course there are discipline programs," said Cisalee Oldham, middle school student council president . "It didn't seem like there were many programs that were rewarding the students for things that they did good. So, there were some people who were thinking, 'what about the good things we do?'"

Cisalee suggested an idea that she remembered from her old school: rewarding students who get "caught" being good. Her teachers liked the idea, so they put it into effect.

With the new "Caught Ya!" program, students who get "caught" helping each other out, being polite or doing any other good behavior receive a "Caught Ya." It is a ticket that they enter into a raffle. The more Caught Ya's students receive, the more chances they have to win prizes.

"We hope that it's going to mean we see a lot more positive behavior," said teacher Fran Fenderson. "The students will value good manners and helpfulness."

The program is working out so well for the middle school students here that next year the teachers want to extend the Caught Ya! program to all K-12th graders at Lajes American School. 

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