Devonshire Throws First Blacklight Party
The Cupid Shuffle. The Cha-cha Slide. Everything is Awesome. As the music played, Devonshire students wearing glowing garments lit up the room with smiles as bright as their clothes while dancing at their first ever blacklight party.
By trading in twenty credits received for good behavior, students were able to participate in the dance event, held during recess on February 22, 2018. Over seventy students representing all grades attended the party.
At Devonshire, students earn paper shields for displaying good behaviors during the course of the day. The shields can be used to attend planned Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) activities throughout the school year. PBIS is a program that recommends structured celebrations as one component of a school’s multi-tiered system of support. Attending different events requires varying amounts of shields, and they are advertised to promote participation and recognize students’ good behavior.
“We’ve never had a dance party at Devonshire and thought it might be fun for some of our students,” said Learning Resource Center Teacher Christine Orozco, who helped plan and run the event. “We want our events to appeal to students of all ages and interests who attend our school.”
In addition to dancing at a party made luminous by flashing lights and glow sticks, the students also had the opportunity to capture their bright moments via a special “glow in the dark” photo booth that showed everyone having a great time.
“I am really proud of our PBIS celebration committee for coming up with so many unique and entertaining events for our students,” said Randy Steinkamp, principal of Devonshire. “It was great to hear how excited the kids were about this event and to see them all having so much fun together.”
“We heard some positive comments,” added Orozco, “but it was the big smiles they left with that really made it worth it!”
