Morris Community High School is catching the good for the second year in row and rewarding it with pizza from Aurelio's

Morris Community High School has entered year two of its Positive Behavior Referral Program and Aurelio’s Pizza Morris has signed on as a partner. Developed by assistant principal Jeff Johnson, the program generated more than 70 positive referrals last year, averaging one to two per week. Just like students “earn” disciplinary referral forms, this program enables them to now “earn” positive referral forms when any teacher or staff catches them doing a good deed.

Teachers and staff make positive referrals through an online form. That triggers the student to be called down to the office and congratulated for the positive choice he or she made. The student also receives an Aurelio’s certificate and a letter goes home to the parents to let them know about the student’s recognition. Then, the student’s name is put in the positive behavior can. Every nine weeks, two names are drawn out to win a $50 Chamber of Commerce gift certificate that can be used anywhere in the county.

“I really enjoy seeing students in my office because of a positive deed. So often, a trip to the office is associated with being in trouble. This is a nice way to balance that and everyone wins – the students, the staff and the community,” said Jeff Johnson, assistant principal, Morris Community High School. “Students need to know we see when they go above and beyond with good deeds, too. It encourages even more positives. For example, one young lady turned in a $20 bill she found in the hall. That’s a terrific level of honesty. Recently, I was contacted by an educator in Louisiana to begin this program in her school. I think more schools should adopt this program and I’d love to see more businesses get behind it like Aurelio’s has.”

For Aurelio’s, involvement in this program was a natural. Aurelio’s Pizza Morris is on a mission to help reward and promote positive behavior in the community. The Morris Community High School program is important to new owner Randy Arway because Aurelio’s is a family pizzeria celebrating families and giving back in its DNA. Plus, he knows that positive experiences in high school can fuel dreams that can and do come true. In fact, he got his first inkling that he would like to some day own his own restaurant while in high school. And, a few months ago, he became the new owner of Aurelio’s Morris, making his high school dream a reality. Aurelio’s is rewarding positive behavior with an Aurelio’s Family Meal Deal certificate that includes one large one topping pizza, a large antipasto salad and a large order of breadsticks for $29.99 plus free soda for the whole family.

“I always believe in catching the good,” said Randy Arway, Aurelio’s Pizza Morris franchise location owner. “Morris Community High School has a lot of great teens. I’ve been so impressed with how socially minded today’s young people are. I look forward to seeing lots of them as they are rewarded for their good deeds. We plan on being involved in this program with Morris Community High School every year. ”

Aurelio’s is located at 1505 Creek Drive in Morris. Year two of the Positive Behavior Referral program began when school started and runs through the end of the school year.