Central Lee students jump start new semester

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

DONNELLSON - Friday turned into a fun day of sorts for Central Lee's student body.

Students at the high school participated in PBIS second semester kickoff complete with morning student-led culture sessions, a school-wide dodgeball tournament, and even Wilson Bros BBQ on the property.

The event served as a kick-start after the winter holiday season and to recharge students' energy around school goals.

According to Central Lee High School Principal Nicole Herdrich, the day was organized by the school's student leadership team around a national culture program called Positive Behavior Intervention Support.

Nicole Herdrich

"We have a leadership team here at the school with about 32 kids on it. It's a very strong leadership team and our Positive Behavior Intervention Support is at the center of those efforts," Herdrich said.

The morning included 10 sessions identified and led by students on the team. They included topics such as respecting school property and each other, individual goals, vaping deterrence, appropriate social media use, empathy and sympathy, and how strong academics and athletics are correlated, among others.

"There are things our student leadership team felt our students need to work on," Herdrich said.

After the 10 morning sessions rotated through the school, the dodgeball tournament was held in the older gym.

"This is all where the fun comes in," Herdrich said. "It's like the fun part that gives them an incentive to embrace the new semester."

The programs were about 15 minutes per session and ran into the early afternoon. Then students were allowed to pay $1 to be on Nerf dodgeball teams as part of a tournament in the afternoon.

Herdrich said it's been several years since they've done anything student-led, mostly due to the pandemic.

But a second-semester kickoff is something the district has done since she's been at the high school.

Kids were dressed up for the dodgeball tournament in clothing that stood out with black lights. The dodgeball tournament, which included Lee County Sheriff's officers and teachers, was held in the dark with the only lights being glow lights and scoreboard lights.

The Back the Blue team took third place in the tournament. All money raised at the tournament was used to support PBIS efforts at the school.

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