Central Greene first district to receive Safe Schools Champion award
WAYNESBURG – When Helen McCracken got a message from the Center for Safe Schools stating the Central Greene School District was chosen to be the state’s first Safe School Champion, she said she was taken by surprise.
“Our school did not apply for the award, but in the message I was invited to attend the 20th annual Center for Safe Schools conference in Harrisburg where the award would be presented to the district at the luncheon on Dec. 12,” said Central Greene’s superintendent said.
Although Safe Schools organized a conference for twenty previous years, this year was the first time planners selected a school district, an organization, Highmark, and an individual as state champions, Dr. Charisse L. Nixon from Penn State Behrend in Erie.
According to Sally Canazaro, the special projects coordinator for the Center for Safe Schools, Highmark donated millions of dollars over the past decade to support safe school climates across the Commonwealth while Dr. Nixon’s research has been rooted in giving children a voice, giving adults tools to provide safe environments and empowering families.
All three recipients got to take home a crystal, tear-drop shaped globe award. Central Greene’s is inscribed with the words Center for Safe Schools, Safe School Champion 2018, Central Greene School District.
At the moment, the award is sitting in McCracken’s office but the superintendent plans to move it to the board of directors’ room soon.
At the conference, McCracken said she asked the presenters what drew them to name Central Greene as the recipient. She was told there were three elements that convinced them.
First was its attention to and communication with students and members of the school community via programs like the Weekend Backpack Food Program.
“The presenters liked the fact that we work with members of the community to make sure that approximately 100 of our students take food home on Friday to have something to eat over the weekend,” McCracken said. “On Thursday our school food service packs backpacks, with the help of our life skills students, with non-perishable, child-quality food and distributes it to students on Friday.”
The school’s nurses, guidance counselors, social workers, teachers and food service workers choose the students for participation in the program.
“It’s important to have a good working relationship with the community because it helps them feel safer, and people are more likely to report possible dangers and unsafe situations,” McCracken said. “Because they work with us and know us, they trust us more. Our training has taught us that the majority of active shooters told someone in advance what they were going to do, but these informants didn’t report it to authorities. When the community trusts us, they’re much more likely to report potentially critical situations.”
Presenters also liked the fact that the school district uses the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, or OBPP, accepted as the most widely-used program in the country to prevent bullying. With over 35 years of research and successful implementation all over the world, OBPP is a whole-school program that has been proven to prevent or reduce bullying throughout a school setting.
According to the Olweus website, statistics show how successful implementation of the OBPP can reduce school bullying. Outcomes have included:
Fifty percent or more reductions in student reports of being bullied and bullying others. Peer and teacher ratings of bullying problems have yielded similar results.
Significant reductions in student reports of general antisocial behavior such as school bullying, vandalism, school violence, fighting, theft and truancy.
Significant improvements in the classroom social climate as reflected in students’ reports of improved order and discipline, more positive social relationships, and more positive attitudes toward schoolwork and school.
Greater support for students who are bullied, and stronger, more effective interventions for students who bully.
According to McCracken, the school district also benefits from the work of school resource officer, Andy Zimmer: a retired state police officer with a stellar career.
“He’s a member of the community and continues to take an interest in the community,” McCracken said. “He’s managed to develop a rapport of respect with our students as well as respect for a focus on safety.”
The third element that contributed to the district’s selection as the state’s 2018 champion was that it thrives in a low socio-economic environment. Forty percent of the district’s student body belong to families classified in this group and who are eligible for the free breakfast and lunch program.
In her acceptance speech at the presentation luncheon at the Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg, McCracken used some of the content from her commencement speech of last year.
“I started off by saying there’s nothing special about us and that there’s everything special about us,” she said. “In our school 24% of our students are classified as special needs. Education here is a challenge, yet we make it happen together. It’s not a one-person show.”
In her speech, McCracken said the community has a lot of grit and gumption, that it doesn’t give up. It steps up and perseveres As an example, she cites the $17,000 given to the district by the Community Foundation of Greene County to fund the backpack food program.
“The award is deserved and I’m proud of the district,” she said. “Things don’t happen in isolation. It really does take a village to make things happen.”