Spotlight on PBIS: Eastman YDC Spades Tournament

Story support and photos from Eastman YDC Volunteer Coordinator Misty Winter

The Eastman Youth Development Campus (Eastman YDC) continues to design innovative and fun activities for eligible youth enrolled in the Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) program. The facility most recently held a spades tournament that rewarded youths who were incident-free and who had no cool-off periods, special incident reports or redirections for one month with 100 percent group participation. Of the 79 youths at the facility, 31  were eligible for the tournament. They also enjoyed buffalo bites, French fries and lemonade. The Eastman YDC business office staff hosted this fun event for the students.

PBIS is an evidence-based, data-driven framework proven to reduce disciplinary incidents, increase a school’s sense of safety and support improved academic outcomes. More than 23,000 U.S. schools are implementing PBIS and saving countless instructional hours otherwise lost to discipline. The premise of PBIS is that continual teaching, combined with acknowledgement or feedback of positive student over the counter behavior, will reduce unnecessary discipline and promote a climate of greater productivity, safety and learning. PBIS schools apply a multi-tiered approach to prevention, using disciplinary data and principles of behavior analysis to develop school-wide, targeted and individualized interventions and supports to improve the school climate for all students.