Plymouth Elementary highlights PBIS program and a Title I‑funded book vending machine to boost positive behavior
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Summary
Plymouth Elementary presented its Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports program centered on 'spirit tickets' and a book vending machine stocked with PTO and Title I funds; staff described weekly drawings, whole‑school rewards and examples of students recognizing positive behavior in peers.
Plymouth Elementary School principal Margaret Doan and family‑intervention specialist Erin Pung described the school’s two‑year effort to implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), centered on “spirit tickets” and a book vending machine purchased with Title I funds and stocked by the school’s PTO.
Doan told the Midland Public Schools Board of Education that the ticket system recognizes students who demonstrate attributes such as caring, being principled, open‑mindedness, risk‑taking, communication and thinking. Staff members distribute tickets across the building; weekly winners from each grade draw a book from the vending machine using a special gold coin and receive a bookmark identifying them as a “Plymouth Spirit ticket winner.”
Erin Pung said the vending machine was purchased with Title I funding before the 2023–24 school year and that the PTO provides money to restock popular titles. “The vending machine has been a really nice incentive for the students,” she said, adding that students often stop in hallways to look at new books and recommend titles to peers.
Doan and Pung gave a concrete example of the program’s influence: after a child listened during art class, another student made an impromptu spirit ticket and gave it to the peer in recognition of their principled behavior. Doan said the moment showed students internalizing the program’s values and reinforcing them among peers.
Pung described the weekly and whole‑school reward process: grade‑level tickets are entered into weekly drawings (announced on the school announcements); undrawn tickets are added to a whole‑school collection that, when filled (roughly once a semester), triggers a schoolwide celebration such as a magician, “cider and cinema” or a movie day.
Doan told the board the program has increased student engagement and helped staff acknowledge positive behavior across multiple adult supervisors, including lunchtime and auxiliary staff. Both presenters thanked the board for the opportunity and invited questions.
No formal action was taken; the item was a Spotlight on Excellence presentation (item 3.2).
