PRIDE cards have been implemented as part of a school initiative to positively reinforce student behavior through rewards since the beginning of February of 2024. Typically, you’d turn these cards into the S.O. store for snacks or clothing. For the top prize of lunch with the principal, however, they are redeemed through Mr. Burbano. This kind of “school-wide positive behavior system”, as principal Mr. Jaenicke called it, is not an entirely new system, but does have unique traits.
“School-wide positive behavior system is not new to Curtis. It’s actually that it has been around for a number of years.” said Mr. Jaenicke. According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed the idea of re-implementing this for some time. The PRIDE cards are used as a reward for positive student behavior in order to cultivate this kind of environment, though people throughout Curtis have mixed feelings about these incentives.
Staff members believe that this new form of engagement will end up pushing students to better themselves. Teachers such as Mr. Lopez-Navarro, a Spanish teacher, believes this is a good change. To him, earning PRIDE cards is simple, which makes it easy to promote positive student behavior. He believes that it’ll lead to a gradual improvement in behavior, as it strives for long-term change instead of a ‘one-and-done deal’, given that it takes a while to accrue enough cards for even a snack from the S.O. store. “I think it can be beneficial as long as students don’t think, ‘hey, I’m going to do this and I’m going to get a card’,” he said.
Students have their own opinions on this matter. Many students believe that PRIDE cards are a great new system to promote good behavior, expressing that they mostly like this change. Mely Vasquez, a Sophomore in the IB program, also believes that this support system would work out well for the student body.
Despite these positive outlooks, others still have their doubts. Sophomore Benjamin Ainu believes that if a change comes through these cards, then it would be a miniscule one at best. “I do not believe a system based purely off of positive reinforcement will have the effect that they desire to see in children that need it,” said by Ainu. Brendan Elliot, a senior, has stated, “I have never seen one myself, to be honest, I don’t think the teachers wanted to go through the effort to implement a rewards system.” His view on this comes from the observation that teachers tend to not go through the effort of distributing these PRIDE cards and thus doesn’t contribute to the goal.
Students’ opinions differ from the staff body about the system of PRIDE cards, especially regarding the top prize, people still seem excited to earn and redeem these cards for the variety of rewards the school offers. The new motivation system shows promise for those who are
