By BEN DECK

For the Daily News

 

Nearly 1,000 students from two Beaufort County elementary schools are heading back to classes this week with fresh memories of how good behavior can pay off.

The students from John Small and John Cotton Tayloe elementary schools were treated to screenings of “Monsters, Inc.” at the Turnage Theatre through a collaboration between the school system, Arts of the Pamlico and Golden Ticket Cinemas of Washington. Screenings were on Jan. 30, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, and students were eligible if they abided by school-specific behavior rules during the second nine weeks of the school year.

“It was really a nice event,” said Debra Torrence, executive director of Arts of the Pamlico. “We partnered with Beaufort County Schools to offer a free movie event as an award day for kids.”

The Arts organization took care of the movie screening, the school system transported children to and from the screenings and the Golden Ticket theater provided free popcorn. Stoney Crouse, general manager of Golden Ticket, said the business seeks to partner with the school system whenever possible.

The event was the brainchild of Torrence and Ashley Padgett, director of curriculum for secondary grades at the school system. Padgett is also on the board of the arts organization, and she pitched the idea for a movie day to Torrence. The school system’s Positive Behavior Intervention and Support program, a district-wide effort to foster good behavior in schools, provided the vehicle for making the movie days happen.

Padgett made the suggestion for the event in December, and the screenings last week could be considered a model for future events, she said. The idea was to have a big celebration at the end of the nine weeks for children whose behavior qualified. Each school has its own criteria for determining eligibility, and about 450 children from each school participated.

“Each school has their own way that they’re doing PBIS,” Padgett said. “The positive behavior thing is really working well.”

Padgett also said that the movie day could become a recurring event that involves more schools. She considers the event this month a sort of a pilot, and if it proves feasible, it could be expanded into a wider program, she said.

“We feel lucky that we have Arts of the Pamlico as our good partner,” Padgett said.