Minot students enjoy a cool treat on a hot afternoon

Jun 25, 2015

Minot Forest Elementary students received a chilly treat for good behavior when the Perry’s Ice Cream trucked rolled into the school parking lot Thursday afternoon.

The students of Michele Letourneau’s third grade class got to choose from a variety of flavors of ice cream, donated by Perry’s Ice Cream, as a reward for following the school’s rules of good behavior. Wareham School Psychologist Anastasia Lapointe organized the surprise for the children, because they had the best consistent behavior record.

The record was based on the Positive Behaviors Interventions and Support model, which Lapointe said the school administration enacted last year for its students. The model is a national framework for rewarding kids for demonstrating positive behavior, and following the school’s three rules of respect, responsibility and kindness.

Lapointe explained the kids are given golden leaves by anyone in the school, if they follow the rules.

“They take the leaf, and they bring it back to their classroom. At the end of the week, any class that reaches 100 leaves or more gets to put their teacher’s names into a bin,” LaPointe said. “On Friday, at dismissal, we pick a random name, and that class earns a reward. The reward is usually 20 extra minutes of recess.”

Lapointe said the ice cream was a special reward. She said there were so many classrooms who were entering the end-of-week raffles that the school decided to give out “superleaves”, which the classes displayed on a tree outside their doors, so the other classes who did not win weekly raffles could be recognized.

“At the end of the year, there were classes that had worked really, really hard, and got a ton of superleaves, and we wanted to reward that class,” Lapointe said. “Mrs. Letourneau’s class was the class that … entered the raffle every single week.”

Though Letourneau could not be there, she left a note for her students, which Lapointe read to the children.

“I am so proud of all of you, and miss you ever so much,” Lapointe read. “I will try to be at school Monday. Love always, Mrs. Letourneau.”