Positive Pax: Yakima Valley schools embrace program that teaches kids to be good people — and good students [YakimaHerald.com]

In Raul Hernandez’ Discovery Lab classroom in Yakima, his fifth-grade students are in a flurry working on lines for a poem.

Then they hear the melodic “zwoop” of a harmonica, and all noise and movement stop in an instant. Hands go up in a two-fingered peace sign. All eyes are on the teacher.

This is PAX, and it’s out to change the world.

The PAX Good Behavior Game is an evidence-based program to help teachers and students build a safe, teamlike classroom environment, where the focus is on praise for good behavior rather than blame for bad behavior.

In establishing that environment, proponents say, disruptions drop to a minimum and students are free to learn and grow — and it’s especially effective for kids with difficult backgrounds.

“If you have kind, happy students who are able to sit and self-regulate, then you’re spending a lot less time trying to get them on task,” said Nancy Fiander, PAX coordinator at Harrah Elementary School, which has been an all-PAX school for five years. “We know that it saves lives. I’ve seen students who had volatile behavior-type things that they are able to control themselves.”

Several Yakima School District teachers are piloting PAX in their classrooms this year, after local educators witnessed the success at Harrah in the Mount Adams School District.