With students nearing the completion of their first full week of school Friday, Sierra Vista Junior High School hosted professional BMX riders to reward students for their week of hard work and discuss a new program that aims to help everybody succeed together.
Students could be heard from nearby neighborhoods cheering on riders Dustin McCarty and Lennie Westfall as they spun, flipped and soared through the air over children, ramps and even school Principal Carolyn Hoffman.
Similar to last year’s focus on wellness, various schools in the William S. Hart Union High School District are working this year to institute Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, which district leaders say will help students achieve social, emotional and academic success by providing programs that support the whole child.
Hoffman said the BMX bike show and motivational message that accompanied it were a small part of the many other school-wide activities and PBIS-related lessons that occurred throughout the day Friday.
“The goal for us is to help our students make sure students feel cared for and to make sure they know we’re here for them,” Hoffman said. “So, we made ‘Together we succeed,’ our school motto,” and succeed is broken down to explain the core values of the school.
S stands for “support,” U is “understand,” C is for “care and celebrate,” E is “energize and explore,” and D is “deliver,” Hoffman said, explaining how students will receive prizes and other goods when they exemplify these behaviors. “Today was to just kick (the program) off, get excited, and help us spread the message that students can do anything they want to do if they just work together.”
Teachers and students in attendance were thrilled when Westfall jumped over Hoffman at the beginning of the event, and in the time between their bunny hops, backflips and many other tricks, the duo shared a message that corresponded with the school’s PBIS motto.
“This generation… You guys are so smart,” McCarty said. “Make sure you guys don’t take that for granted.”
Everybody excels at different things, which is great, “because two heads are better than one. Three heads are better than two and so on and so on,” McCarty added. “Be a good character. Be a good friend. Be a person of your word… Go for the gold and go for the win, guys.”
