Bumper car derby in school? A new way to reward good behavior
May 4—On Friday mornings, students at North Canton Elementary school pile into the gymnasium, eagerly waiting in line before heading to class.
However, those Friday jitters aren't just because the weekend is approaching. They're waiting to hear the names of the lucky students chosen to cruise the hallway on bumper cars. That's right — bumper cars.
"The kids want to do it, they're excited about it. They're really nervous and anxious when she starts calling names," said Joanna Pace, kindergarten teacher. "It's a surprise every Friday. They don't know they're getting called."
Principal Jill Mann calls the names of students who have been caught on their best behavior in the past week. From there, students climb into the bumper car of their choosing and cruise the hall for 10 to 15 minutes.
Teachers know that for those 15 minutes, no students are in the hallway — thus avoiding any possibility of mini speed racers side-swiping ankles.
The bumper cars stemmed from the school's 'caught being good' initiative that began last year. Whenever students are in the hallways exhibiting good behaviors — whether it's following directions or picking up trash without being told so — they are rewarded.
The teacher who "catches" the student takes a picture with them to show the principal. Their mugs go on the "caught being good" wall of fame, and they get to claim a prize from the treasure chest in the principal's office.
The bumper cars have been raising the stakes for good behavior since December.
When Mann got an alert that bumper cars were on clearance — she couldn't pass up the bargain for her students.
"I want to say they were probably $300. And they were on clearance for $140," Mann said.
Once the cars arrived at the school, they were a huge hit.
"It was very fun. The whole school was very excited. The gym was crazy, because she surprised them, the kids didn't know they were coming," said Pace.
Pace gave the bumper cars their first test ride and was flooded with comments and emails after Haywood County Schools posted a picture on their Facebook.
"People I never talked to before reached out, even in different counties," Pace said.
"She got hundreds of emails, personal calls to the school wanting to know where we got these," Mann added.
Pace's son Hudson, a fifth grader at North Canton, was a big inspiration behind the idea.
Kids with behavior issues were more likely to get "caught being good" — as an incentive to change their ways. But Hudson brought up the point to his principal that he can't necessarily get "caught" when he's always on his best behavior.
"Right after Hudson had said to me, 'I never get caught being good, because I'm always good.' I thought, well, what can we do for an incentive?" Mann said. "Hudson always does great things all day, every day. And so you're not really looking at him, because he's always doing what he's supposed to. This is a chance for them to get caught being good."
Hudson was one of the first students who got to go for a joy ride.
"It's fun," Hudson said. "Everyone's excited to see if their name's called."
Mann said her students behavior has improved since the bumper cars rolled into the picture.
She said just last week a student who veers towards misbehaving got to ride a bumper car for the first time. After he finished riding he was eager to ask whether he would have the chance to ride it again.
After Mann said yes, he was quick to respond with an upbeat 'I'm gonna be good every week.'
"He had never had an entire week that was great. He's not mean or anything, he just hadn't had a great week ever. Then all of a sudden he did, and now he wants to keep doing great things," Mann said. "It might not hit every single student. But we're letting the kids that are always good ride it, and we're also letting the kids that have a great week ride it."
And even when kids don't have a 'good week' they don't get discouraged.
"It's not 'You're never gonna get to do it.' It's 'Let's try for next week,'" Pace said. "It's a positive thing: 'Let's try'.
