North students have positive fun at The Palace
They put on those wheels (or blades for the more advanced) and whizzed around the rink for an evening of fun with their friends and parents.
More than 150 students and parents from the North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts gathered at The Palace roller skating rink on Thursday for the first big social event of the year.
The event was a fundraiser for the Positive Behavior Support program, which reinforces positive behavior with the students. Students who don’t get referrals are rewarded every quarter.
The event raised money so students can get trinkets in the Dragon Store, T-shirts, have pizza parties, anything they can give back to the kids, said Linda Verdream, who heads the PBS program.
“On field days we can provide snacks and water, and give water to the bus drivers on hot days. It’s all about rewarding good behavior,” Verdream said.
New principal Dr. Thomas Millins said the event supports students who make good decisions and rewards them, and serves as an opportunity to get children out to meet other students and see others in a different light.
“Kids have the opportunity to have fun, meet and spend time with each other and be outside the school grounds,” Millins said. “It’s good for the kids to see us in a different light. It’s one of many nights we’ll do this.”
NFMAA was among one of the first schools to offer the PBS program more than a decade ago. Verdream was with several teachers from other schools when she came up with the idea. Today, more than 100 schools statewide take part in the program.
NFMAA has been named by the state as a gold model school for the PBS program and a silver model school, and participation in the event was proof in the pudding.
“Our first two events are big kickoffs where we bring in a few hundred kids and parents and raise a lot of money. Except for the rain and the heat, it’s great,” Verdream said.
Students from K-8 were at the event, all having different skill levels. Many of the younger students were in the far end of the rink, where parents Carolina Houston and Mary Bronson were teaching them with them help of walkers which the kids held on to as they learned to roll.
“I got to meet the principal and some parents who wouldn’t ordinarily do because you’re working and the kids go to school,” Houston said.
Those not afraid to fall took part in the limbo rock, the hokey-pokey and generally took countless spins (and a few spills) around the rink.
Some parents dared to lace up. Jill Moreland, a parents who works at the rink and has three kids who are NFMAA students, said it was a fun event.
“All the kids are having a good time and there’s a lot of supervision. It’s a reward for positive behavior. We want to promote a good work ethic in school, positive behavior, citizenship,” Moreland said. “They do a couple of these a year and we enjoy it.”