PBJHS House System- "PB Pioneers"

Get ready, get set, it's almost GO TIME! Our "Mule House System" is ready to go for this school year! This will be our 5th year implementing the house system and it has been one of our biggest successes! We felt like students have really enjoyed creating a small community with their house and it helped improve school spirit all around!

For those of you who are new to us this year, let me explain a little bit about how it will work. All students will be placed into a team (House) and that house will compete against the other five houses all year long. They will battle it out to earn rewards and incentives as well as sponsor and participate in a community service project! I believe that service to others helps build good character and this year at PBJHS we will be focused on character building in conjunction with achieving high levels of student achievement!

Students will spend the first two days of the year this year with their house doing team building activities, designing their house shirt, motto, chant and also picking what service organization they'd like to support.

This year's house theme will be PB Pioneers. We are excited to honor some of the wonderful people from Poplar Bluff who started businesses in PB and were pioneers in helping Poplar Bluff thrive and grow! We can't wait for our students to learn about some of their greatest achievements and legacies.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Candace Warren

We will have 6 houses that are our traditional teams (Teams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Each house will have approximately 125 students with six to eight staff members each (all teachers will be assigned a house). Houses will have their own flag, color, Team Chant/Cheer (that they create) and a designed crest and every student will receive a free t-shirt. This year, our houses will be named after people who are PB Pioneers. In addition, students who wear their house shirts on Wednesdays will be able to also wear a hat that day at school.

The why of the house system:

• Physical and emotional safety so that our students can thrive at high levels.
  
• Develop a system where EVERY student has a place to belong, be supported and be successful
• Foundational concepts we will address: Empathy and Empowerment to live our mission and vision ... "Better Together"
• A focus on serving others! Last year our students raised several hundred dollars for different organizations in our community, made pillowcases for Foster, Adopt, Connect, and donated over 9,000 cans to St. Vincent De Paul.

Below are a few resources to help get a big picture of a house system:

http://therigorousowl.com/how-we-implemented-the-house-system-inspired-by-the-ron-clark-academy-at-our-school/

https://mrsbowley.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/the-ron-clark-challenge-sorting-students-into-houses/

https://prezi.com/ageam65xbby7/the-house-system-inspired-by-the-ron-clark-academy-adapted/

http://www.ronclarkacademy.com/

There will be a House Trophy of Awesomeness that will be awarded to the house with the highest total of points at the end of the year, but we will reward houses as they hit milestone points too. These are sample incentives:

• Mule Swag
• Ice Cream parties
• Pizza Parties
• Outside time
• BBQ at the Park
• Skate City Private Party
• Trip to the Movies
• And the list will continue to grow

• Activity Nights
• Wear it Wednesdays
• Holiday competitions
• Spirit Weeks
• Principal Points (Caught being good)
• House competitions during assemblies
• Monthly attendance
• Attendance at events
• Grades
• Contests
• Adopt - a- spot
• Community service projects (one per semester)
• Each team will choose a community organization to represent (ex: Hearts for Rescue, Haven House, VA Hospital)

We have developed an easy to manage system to track points. We display house information in the front lobby on the TV and also the upstairs and cafeteria TV.

Email: candacewarren@pb.k12.mo.us
Website: https://jh.poplarbluffschools.net/home
Location: 550 North Westwood Boulevard, Poplar Bluff, MO, USA
Phone: 573-785-5602
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pbjhsmo/
Twitter: @pbjhs