Wednesday, November 13, 2002
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Wednesday, November 13, 2002 |
Fayette's buses roll out positive label programThe old saying "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me" couldn't be further from the truth, and that's why the Fayette County School System's transportation department is piloting a positive label program this year on its buses. The Casey program, developed by Peachtree City resident Margaret Ross and offered through her nonprofit organization, the Kamaron Institute, is designed to teach children that words are powerful tools that can have either a positive or harmful effect. The heart of the program centers on Ross' book, "Casey and the Amazing, Giant, Green Shirt." In the book, a youngster named Casey finds an old Army jacket with a missing badge. He decides to replace the badge and experiments with a number of words. Through his journey to find the perfect word for his badge, he experiences the joy of positive words and the pain of unkind ones. When Transportation Coordinator Pam Holt heard about the book and the program, and that several schools within the system were participating to become positive label certified schools, she decided to implement the program in Fayette's transportation system. Research shows that most student discipline problems start at the bus stop and usually name-calling is at the heart of the problem. Holt believes the Casey program can help students learn how to be more positive toward each other. "School bus safety is an important objective for anyone in the school bus business. It has to be a partnership between schools, students, parents, drivers and the transportation department," said Holt. Partnership is exactly what the Casey program is all about. It involves everyone who is connected to working with students from teachers and administrators to parents and staff. The program involves ongoing activities centered on the use of positive words for a period of four-weeks as well as the reading of the Casey book. After the four-week period is up, the school or bus participating becomes positive label certified. Ross, the program's founder, has been working with Holt to tailor the program so that it can be delivered to students while on the bus. Ross says she commends the school system for expanding the program from the classroom to the curb. "They [the transportation department] have morphed traditional school buses into 'Mobile Positive Word Zones' and set a good example for the entire county," she said. When Holt told bus drivers about the program, Johnnie Lewis, driver of bus #222, was one of the first drivers to jump on board. She says the program fit directly into activities that she has been doing all along on her bus to help to promote positive attitudes. She started using the Casey program on her bus in September. She asked her elementary students from Robert J. Burch Elementary, who are also participating in the program at school, to bring in a word each week that made them feel special. Students hand their words to Lewis on a piece of paper that she posts inside the bus. Once the bus reaches the school, Lewis takes a few moments to discuss the words and find out why they make the student feel special. "I had a kindergarten student who turned in the word 'baseball.' He told me it was his favorite sport and that he felt like a winner when he thought about baseball," said Lewis. "Who would have thought that 'baseball' would make a child feel special?" The program has become so popular with the students that some of them are bringing a word a day. Curious about what the words meant, Lewis' middle and high school students from Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek High began asking questions about the program and asked Lewis if they could participate, too. "I have words from high school seniors down to kindergartners posted on the bus. Believe it or not, all students look for new words posted as they get onto the bus each day," commented Lewis. "Since we started the program, I have noticed that students are being more courteous to each other. When one accidentally bumps another instead of saying 'watch out' they say 'excuse me' or 'I'm sorry.'" Although the four-week period for the program has past, Lewis' students are still bringing in words and will continue to do so until the end of the school year. "I have encouraged all drivers participating to continue until the end of the year so that we don't lose sight of what has been learned during the four-week program. In this county we don't look at buses as merely a mode of transportation, we want our drivers to see themselves as an extension of the classroom and what we are doing here is reinforcing life skills that are being taught in school everyday," said Holt. The Casey positive label certification program is included in the official character education resources of the National Museum of Patriotism. The program is set to be featured at the museum in a special Casey Citizenship Exhibit which will feature all schools in the county that have participated in the program along with the school system's transportation department. "We are honored to have this program at the museum. Our thanks to Fayette County for these rolling examples of positive character and citizenship," said Jason Wetzel, director of the National Museum of Patriotism.
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