Embark on an educational odyssey with the wisdom of Phil Heflin, a retired educator whose 37-year legacy is marked by transforming lives within the classroom walls. Our latest episode captures the heartwarming tales of a man whose journey from academic hardship to beloved teacher and administrator embodies the spirit of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Phil's stories resonate with the power of personal connections, the moments that spark a student's passion, and the gentle art of acknowledgment that can turn an ordinary classroom into a haven of inspiration.
High school may seem like a tough nut to crack with PBIS, but Phil breaks down these barriers, sharing innovative tactics that ditch the textbook for the human touch. His exciting recount of 'Why We Love Wednesday,' the laughter behind crazy pants Fridays, and the simple joy of a sticker or a cookie remind us that adolescence is still a time for fun, discovery, and yes, a little bit of sweetness. Teachers and students alike bask in the culture of recognition that Phil fostered, proving that encouragement doesn't just belong to the young but thrives at any age, in any educational stage.
As our conversation comes to an end, Phil leaves us not just with anecdotes but with actionable insights into crafting a high school environment where every student feels valued. Understanding the subtle mechanics of PBIS at the high school level empowers us to perceive the potential in every student. So join us for a heartfelt episode that celebrates the ingenuity and dedication of one man's mission to nurture the genius in every student, and stay tuned for more enlightening discussions that promise to transform the way we approach education.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to PBIS.
Journey to Genius.
Are you in the process ofimplementing PBIS?
Are you wondering where tostart?
You are in the right place.
We are here to support you.
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome back everybody.
This is PBIS Journey to Genius.
I'm Diane Farrell, I'm DianeRuff and we do a weekly podcast
about PBIS positive behaviors,interventions and supports and
we've been going all overtalking to different schools and
their take on that.
We've had a couple high schools, but mostly a lot of
(00:48):
elementaries and we wanted toget into that high school world
a little bit more.
So I've asked my friend, mrPhil Heflin, and he's on with us
today and he's going tointroduce himself and where he's
from and the school that he'srepresenting and he's going to
talk a little PBIS with us today.
Hey, phil, what's up?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hey how you doing today.
Ladies, thanks for having me onhere today.
I'm calling in from beautifulBethel, ohio, 45106.
And in the state of Ohio, whichis down by Cincinnati, in the
land of Houdet baby.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Ooh, okay.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We know Phil's a big Bengals fan, so okay.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So what's your school , Phil?
What's your school?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
This is Grant Career Center.
I just retired last June, did37 years in education.
I did 23 in the classroom as aphysical education and health
teacher than I did the last 14as an administrator.
Oh, wow, awesome, I know I know, people say 37 years, but they
(01:53):
say my God, you're only 37.
You look like you're 37.
Shut your mouth, people.
Why are you lying to me likethat?
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Oh gosh, so why did you go into education in the
first place?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
You know I'm going to give you the quick synopsis
because I know we only have 20minutes and Lord knows I can
talk.
You know, I went in.
My sister, my oldest sister,was an English teacher at
Carrollton and Mrs Farrell wasin her first class.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I know I was going to say that His sister's Kim, and
she was my teacher, okay, shetaught her English.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
So I started off and I graduated high school in the
year of our Lord, 1980.
And I went to school for a yearand I came out with a 1.2 grade
point average and my parentssaid you are done, go get a job.
So I worked for a couple ofyears.
Work got laid off, work gotlaid off and then I finally told
(02:53):
my parents I said, man, I wantto go back to school.
I do not want to get laid offand have to work like this the
rest of my life.
So I ended up going back.
They paid for the firstsemester back.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And then I ended up paying.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Of course, this is back in the early eighties,
where you're going to afford togo to college and pay it off.
And then I got into, I startedtaking.
I'd always enjoyed being aroundkids, I enjoyed sports.
So I thought, ah, you know what, I see what my sister does, I
think I'd like to get intoeducation.
So I started taking educationclasses.
Um, and then, and then you haveto sort of make you come to the
fork in the road and you haveto figure out where you want to
go and I thought, ah, phys edwould be a good one, and health,
(03:30):
and so that's how I got towhere I was.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
That's great, I love it.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
And I can see that because Phil's a big kid himself
always has been.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I've known Phil since high school, so probably 40
years of knowing Mr Heflin soyes, yes a lot of a lot of kid
himself kidding well, I startedoff at UC and I got homes that
came back.
Most people don't know.
I graduated from UCLA, which isUpper Carroll, lower Akron.
I graduated from UCLA becauseit seemed like everybody from
(04:05):
Carroll went to Akron, so that's, that's where.
That's where it was.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, UCLA, Upper Carroll and Lower Akron.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
That's where I went to school.
Yes, UCLA.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I was not a.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Bruin.
I was a Zip.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
What keeps you coming back Like what's your aha
moment over there?
Is there one particular aha orjust you know?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know what Throughout the years, and I sort
of divide my aha moments intowhen I was teaching in the
classroom or teaching in the gym, or teaching, or when I became
a principal.
So, throughout the years,making relations, I'm going to
tell you right now the main keyto any education is
(04:50):
relationships.
I mean I can make relationshipswith people.
I like talking to people.
My wife and my son don't likegoing to the grocery store with
me, because what would take anormal person a half hour takes
me three hours, because I stopand talk to people and but the
one thing is the aha moment.
You know I'll go to the storeand I'll see these kids 20 years
(05:12):
later.
And I'm big at giving outnicknames.
I love giving out nicknamesI've been bestowed upon them.
And then I like to stop andjust talk to them and say, hey,
how's your life going?
They tell me about their kids,they tell me this, they tell me
that, and I just I enjoybuilding that relationship and
(05:33):
then seeing the kids outafterwards and and knowing that
I made a difference with them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And I attest to that.
I think that's why Phil's madesuch a good assistant principal,
because that assistantprincipal is the ones working
with that behavior.
They're working with thoseparents.
They're Phil.
That's like his number onething is relationship building,
so, and that's a good assistantprincipal.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And especially when I got into administration, you
know when you're in theclassroom, you you have well
when you're.
So I taught elementary phys ed.
I taught middle school phys edand health, then I taught high
school phys ed.
So a lot of the kids I had inelementary, I followed them and
I had them again in high school.
But you know, the big thing wasonce, once you become an
(06:32):
administrator, you have thatability to reach out to and
touch different kids and thewhole thing.
And you know, one thing is andI don't know if it makes them
mad or whatever if I'm goingdown the hallway and you know
how awkward that is sometimeswhen you're walking down the
hallway, just you and a studentI always say something to them,
(06:54):
pat them on the back, say, hey,what's up, dog, good to see you
today.
Blah, blah, blah.
To this day I still do that.
I'm actually at work right now,even though I'm retired, I'm
still subbing.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You couldn't get away , I'm actually at work right now
, Even though I'm retired.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I'm still subbing, so I'm in subbing today.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You couldn't get away from it.
You're still.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
No, I just want to make as much as those Minerva
teachers make.
Oh okay, all right, that's mygoal in life All right, take us
to PBIS land now.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And what's some things that you pull away now?
Because you know, you and Italked a lot about PBIS whenever
I was big into it and you werelike, we're going to do these
things in my high school.
We're going to do these things,so let's take us down that road
.
What were things you put in atthe high school that you are
most proud of?
You thought were good thingsthat worked and kids enjoyed,
even at the high school level?
Because a lot of people sayPBIS is just for elementary, it
(07:46):
doesn't work at the high school,but it is not.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
I was one of those naysayers when you and I were
sitting in Punta Canta in theDominican Republic that we sat
there and we talked about thisand I'm like I don't know if
this is going to work for thehigh school, but at the end of
the day, high school kids arestill kids.
They're just big kids.
They still like to have fun.
So I would say a couple, and Istill get this.
I instituted a thing called whywe Love Wednesday.
So I would take a teacher andI'm going to read you one, if I
(08:19):
may.
So, being at a career technicalschool, we have different
programs.
Well, this one I wrote, and Iwrote about each teacher every
week.
So I would say why we loveWednesday.
We love Wednesday because of MrDyer, the criminal justice
program instructor.
(08:39):
The students in his class weartheir pride like a badge of
honor and will share if theyneed to.
Mr Dyer is a sharp dresserbecause his pants always have
cuffs.
If his classes ever make cookiebatter, they will never use a
half stir because they alwaysprefer a whole stir, because
(09:03):
they always prefer a holster.
After his students do PT, hehas them lay down and he reads
them nursery crimes while theyare arresting.
So everyone, put your hands upand give Mr Dyer a high five and
(09:26):
bring law and order to ourcriminal justice program.
So I would do that everyWednesday and I would do that
and I wrote one for the wholeschool when I retired last year.
I used every teacher.
But I'm not going to read thatone because it would take too
long.
But then what I would do on whywe love Wednesday is that I
(09:47):
would take stickers and I wouldput stickers under kids' trays
and if you got a sticker thenyou get to.
You came to me and I gave youtwo cookies.
So it was all random and thekids were always they're walking
, they're almost dumping theirtrays.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Because they're looking for that, and then we
would do teachers of the weekand then we would also have some
drawings where teachers we getto a certain part, Because it's
important for the kids.
But also PBIS needs to extendout to the teachers.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Because you know we don't want them to be forgotten,
because they're the ones thatdrive the chariot On Friday.
I wear crazy pants.
I didn't wear crazy pants today, but I've got a bunch of golf
pants, you know, zebra printed,ohio State, different ones that
I would always wear on Fridays.
(10:44):
And it's just a thing wherekids would say, hey, mr Ethel, I
like your pants, and that wouldbe a conversation started with
the kid and all that matters isjust getting that first word.
And I really enjoy talking tokids that don't like to talk,
because I try to get them out oftheir shell and I say you can
(11:07):
sit there and not talk to me,but I'm going to talk to you
because we need to make thatconnection, and they end up
doing that.
So I have candy out for thestudents.
So I got a pocket full of candyright now.
When I was at New Richmondyears ago, I would always have
fireballs not the candy youdrink, but the fireballs.
And these kids still talk aboutthat today because they'd eat
one and they go oh, let's seehow long we can keep this in our
(11:28):
mouth without having to go geta drink of water.
So they still talk about thattoday, but I still have candy.
So I'll walk down the hallwayand I'll see a kid and I'll
throw him a piece of candy.
I'll say, hey, have a good day.
And just that little gesturemakes a big difference, have a
good day.
And just that little gesturemakes a big difference.
And then we would also, each daywhen I was at Grant, I would
(11:49):
pull a kid out.
I'd go to a different program,pull a kid out and I'd have them
say the pledge for me or withme, just so they can get on
there.
And then I would give them ashout out hey, Diane Farrell,
out of the Allied Health Program, thank you for helping us.
They are a pleasure today.
And then also I would dobirthdays.
So I would play music on theirbirthdays.
(12:11):
I'd read every kid's birthdayin the morning, give them that.
Then on Friday I did the Fridaytrifecta, where I would play
songs like three and henceforththe name trifecta.
And then we would give giftcards.
So the kid would come down andthey'd fill out what songs they
were and they got a chance todraw for gift cards and
(12:36):
bracelets like this.
I still wear them.
I still wear these bracelets.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
That's a lot of acknowledging.
Oh, yes, this because I stillwear them.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I still wear these braces acknowledging oh yeah,
you are.
You are like pbis, stage one,tier one, like overload here
well, I went to the dianefarrell school of pbis it was a
long week in punta cana it wasit was because her husband was
sick, so we had to.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We hadn't talked PBIS .
Speaker 2 (13:03):
We did, and but you know what, even though Phil,
who's a big jokester, you know,was kind of riding me about PBIS
back then because that wasyears and years ago, what was
that like six or seven years ago, I mean?
Speaker 3 (13:14):
that's a lot.
No, it's been before that.
It's probably been a betterpart of 10.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
It might have been, and you part of 10.
It might have been, and, uh,you were riding me about that
being an elementary thing, andthen you come back and took all
these things.
Now what I say, phil, is didyou ever look at any like?
Do you think all of that tierone acknowledged made those kids
change in wanting to come toschool?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Oh, absolutely.
I think it's important becauseyou know the education that we
live in now.
You know, with the pandemic in2020, yada, yada, yada,
attendance is crazy.
You know you have to give thekids a reason to want to be at
school and you know it's just aseasy, like I say, if I see a
(14:03):
kid just sitting by themselves,I'm going to sit down, I'm going
to talk to them because theyhave to want to be here.
You know it's important that ifyou don't make those
connections and really PBIS tierone is all about making those
connections and making themaking, the relationship
building.
And once again, I know peopleare going to say my god, he's
(14:24):
had relationship a thousandtimes.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, I can, I can say the thousand one, because
it's important that that's themain thing, absolutely if kids
don't like, you know you sittingdown by that one kid or you
know your candy fireballs or youknow your wacky wednesdays or
whatever you.
But if they feel like ifthey're sitting at home they're
missing that we know as well asI do kids who miss school.
(14:51):
It's harder to go back toschool Like it's hard because
now you've got all the thingsyou missed and all the things
that make you anxious about notgoing because you missed all
this stuff.
So your relationship piece andthat whole attendance piece is
huge, especially at high schooland at Clearsburg.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
And I, you know I had to be in the assistant
principal because I was here forthree years and I was at New
Richmond for the other 11.
You know the attendance.
You get to get the kids in hereand I would work with juvenile
court and we would try to makesure that the kids were getting
here.
You know I never yelled at themso on and so forth, but I told
them why it's important to behere.
You know I would sit there andI've suspended kids, a lot of
(15:34):
kids in my lifetime, but ninetimes out of 10, I would sit
there and we would have aconversation, we would talk
about what we need to do toimprove our behavior, what we
need to do to fix this problem,and then when they come back,
we're going to put in our rearview mirror.
We're not going to look back andwe're going to move forward and
I would tell the kids, you know, at the end of the day hey, you
(15:54):
know what I say, do you think Ilike you?
And they'd say I don't know,maybe.
I said no, I don't like you atall.
I said I love you and I said Ido love you and I said I want
you when you come back, and ninetimes out of 10, or even the
parents would say, hey, thankyou, I appreciate that.
And when they came back, Iwouldn't sit there and shun them
.
I would sit there and say, hey,I'm glad to have you back today
(16:16):
.
Now let's get this thing goingand then, boom, we'd be fine not
saying come on.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So now let's think in the lens of schools that want
to do this, but there isresistance, especially at the
high school, though, like wedon't have time for this.
You know, we don't have timefor this.
What's your what?
What?
What would you say to school?
Like, because you were thatdon't have time for this, going
to suspend somebody when they'reback.
You know, what would you say toschools?
(16:46):
What's your advice?
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Well, my advice would be in today's educational
climate, it's just another toolin the toolbox.
It's important.
You need to have something andyou know you don't have to.
Like I say, we started out tierone.
We were tier one a couple ofyears.
We're at it now.
(17:09):
Before I left last year, we putsome tier two and tier three
pieces in place, which they aredoing now.
But you know what I would tellwhoever's thinking about it you
need to do it, you really needto do it, and I think it's all.
Is it not state mandated nowthat yes.
(17:29):
Okay, and if you're and I'm aI'm a firm believer if you're
going to do anything, do it withvalidity and make sure that you
do it and do it right, cause ifyou don't do it, and you do it
half-assed, excuse me out therein PBIS land If you do that and
you don't go all in and itdoesn't have to be it could
start out small.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's what I was saying how would you start, like
, how did you go back after thatPunta Cana trip and start it?
What did you start?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
thinking that wasn't overwhelming your step.
Well, the relationship part hasalways been there for me and
you know I I've I've toldteachers that that have worked
for me.
You know, build relationshipwith the kids, which the
teachers here at grant are greatat building relationships with
(18:18):
the kids, but they need to makehere's's what I've said a
thousand times.
I have spoken to a non-millionparents, but I'm talking to a
crap load of parents and if youcan talk to the parents and
their parents know that you havea vested interest in their
child, that parent will walkthrough fire for you and it's
(18:43):
just a matter of making a phonecall, not an email.
It's more personal to make thatphone call.
But to go back to your question, you know when I got started?
I don't know.
You know I'm 61 years old butI've got a mindset of a
12-year-old, I think At least mywife tells me that yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Diane tells me that too all the time.
The thing is I just startedlike the why we Love Wednesdays
in the pants and the Friday.
These are just things I thoughtup how to get more kids
involved.
And then also he gives a shoutout to the teachers yeah, you
(19:27):
get to have sit there and havethat for the teachers, which
they appreciate it too, becausethey always say, hey, can I get
a copy?
So I got to make a copy of itand they hang them up in a room,
say where it is a badge ofhonor too.
So yes, and I would just say,you know, start out small and
then, just, you know, noteverything's going to work.
Some kids may look at it andsay it's cheesy, but I was just
(19:50):
talking to some students todayand we were talking about why we
love Wednesday and they saidwhy don't you bring that back?
We want to hear that again.
We want why we love Wednesdays.
And I said why don't you bringthat back?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
We want to hear that again, we want why we love
Wednesdays because the kidsenjoy it.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It is what it is.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Your advice is to just start out small.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Start out small.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
And then it'll snowball.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Right, and and, once again, if you you have to have
some sort of committee, youcan't.
It can't be.
So we've had committees before.
So we've had committees before.
So we got a PBIS committee hereat Grant, but you got to have
people that are fun.
You can't have sticks in themud.
(20:29):
You can't have people that thatare just going to.
You can't have a naysayer onthere.
You got to have people that arevested in it and want to make
it prosperous.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So do you like your committee?
You have to say that becausepeople might hear this.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Absolutely.
I like my committee because Iwent out and I got them.
I know who the fun people are.
They want to work with FP FunPhil and I'm like, hey, I love
it.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So you so really a lot of this is the
acknowledgement system.
When you were putting thistogether, did you guys come up
with some big rules like thethree big rules be safe, be
responsible, be respectful, orsomething like that.
So it's kind of universal inthe they do.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And you put me on the spot because we have one here
at Grant and, like G stands forgratitude and we make sure that
it's R's respect.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Oh my gosh, you put me oh, that's OK, that's OK.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
But my point is yes, we follow them because we do
also do the PPIS referral system.
And so whenever a kid gets areferral and they would come to
my office, I'd say well, let'slook at the Grant logo, let's
look at this, let's see where wedidn't quite meet expectations
and what can we do next time.
(21:44):
To do that.
And the teachers too are goodabout making sure that the kids
are following the acronym forgrant.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So I was just wondering, because you know to
get a school on board, youreally kind of you need that,
you need the matrix, you needthe rules, just so everybody
knows the expectations, thestudents and the teachers across
the board.
Right, you have put all of thatin place.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
We have.
We have expectations for theclassroom, we got expectations
for the cafeteria, we gotexpectations for labs, we got
expectations for hall cafeteria,we got expectations for labs,
we got expectations for hallways, bus blah, blah, blah.
We've got all that, but onceagain, it ain't worth the paper
it's written on if you don'tfollow through.
And then henceforth?
That's why it's important thatthe teachers understand that,
(22:35):
which most of them, theyunderstand that here.
But you also have to have thatsupport from administration.
Because you don't have thatsupport from administration, it
can fall to the wayside veryeasily.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It is true, phil and we've talked about that a lot
that if you, you know you needyour committee, you need your
people on board, but you needthat stamp of approval from the
administration.
You need them to go.
This is what we want you all todo.
This is so that your stafffollows through on that.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Even your walnuts.
And you know, the other thingis, it's called a framework for
a reason, it's a PBIS framework.
You come across people who sayjust tell me what to do.
Well, that doesn't work,because the framework is the
guidelines and then each schoolputs their spin on it, and I
love how you've put your spin onit.
(23:26):
You know a lot of theacknowledgement.
Yeah, you have other things inplace, but for you the most
important thing is therelationships and the
acknowledgement Absolutely,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Because kids happy kids who want to come to school
will behave better they willThan kids who don't want to be
there and aren't happy whilethey're there.
So that's Well.
I think our time is up, mrHeflin.
We've had a great show.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Oh my gosh, I tell you what.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Look how fast it went .
Speaker 3 (23:54):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Look how fast it went .
Speaker 3 (23:56):
You know what?
Because Lord knows, I can talk.
We can talk a little bit moreif you want to go into overtime.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Well, what we're going to do is we're going to
zero down on this one, but wewould love to have you back
sometime.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
You have been listening to Phil Heflin giving
us a perspective on theacknowledgement system at the
high school level.
Thank you for listening to PBISJourney to Genius.
Please reach out to us atPBISJourneytoGenius at gmailcom
or look for us on Facebook andInstagram.
Welcome to PBIS.
Journey to Genius.
Are you in the process ofimplementing PBIS?
Are you wondering where tostart?
You are in the right place.
We are here to support you.
Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome back everybody.
This is PBIS Journey to Genius.
I'm Diane Farrell, I'm DianeRuff and we do a weekly podcast
about PBIS positive behaviors,interventions and supports and
we've been going all overtalking to different schools and
their take on that.
We've had a couple high schools, but mostly a lot of
(00:48):
elementaries and we wanted toget into that high school world
a little bit more.
So I've asked my friend, mrPhil Heflin, and he's on with us
today and he's going tointroduce himself and where he's
from and the school that he'srepresenting and he's going to
talk a little PBIS with us today.
Hey, phil, what's up?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hey how you doing today.
Ladies, thanks for having me onhere today.
I'm calling in from beautifulBethel, ohio, 45106.
And in the state of Ohio, whichis down by Cincinnati, in the
land of Houdet baby.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Ooh, okay.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We know Phil's a big Bengals fan, so okay.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So what's your school , Phil?
What's your school?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
This is Grant Career Center.
I just retired last June, did37 years in education.
I did 23 in the classroom as aphysical education and health
teacher than I did the last 14as an administrator.
Oh, wow, awesome, I know I know, people say 37 years, but they
(01:53):
say my God, you're only 37.
You look like you're 37.
Shut your mouth, people.
Why are you lying to me likethat?
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Oh gosh, so why did you go into education in the
first place?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
You know I'm going to give you the quick synopsis
because I know we only have 20minutes and Lord knows I can
talk.
You know, I went in.
My sister, my oldest sister,was an English teacher at
Carrollton and Mrs Farrell wasin her first class.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I know I was going to say that His sister's Kim, and
she was my teacher, okay, shetaught her English.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
So I started off and I graduated high school in the
year of our Lord, 1980.
And I went to school for a yearand I came out with a 1.2 grade
point average and my parentssaid you are done, go get a job.
So I worked for a couple ofyears.
Work got laid off, work gotlaid off and then I finally told
(02:53):
my parents I said, man, I wantto go back to school.
I do not want to get laid offand have to work like this the
rest of my life.
So I ended up going back.
They paid for the firstsemester back.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And then I ended up paying.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Of course, this is back in the early eighties,
where you're going to afford togo to college and pay it off.
And then I got into, I startedtaking.
I'd always enjoyed being aroundkids, I enjoyed sports.
So I thought, ah, you know what, I see what my sister does, I
think I'd like to get intoeducation.
So I started taking educationclasses.
Um, and then, and then you haveto sort of make you come to the
fork in the road and you haveto figure out where you want to
go and I thought, ah, phys edwould be a good one, and health,
(03:30):
and so that's how I got towhere I was.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
That's great, I love it.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
And I can see that because Phil's a big kid himself
always has been.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
I've known Phil since high school, so probably 40
years of knowing Mr Heflin soyes, yes a lot of a lot of kid
himself kidding well, I startedoff at UC and I got homes that
came back.
Most people don't know.
I graduated from UCLA, which isUpper Carroll, lower Akron.
I graduated from UCLA becauseit seemed like everybody from
(04:05):
Carroll went to Akron, so that's, that's where.
That's where it was.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, UCLA, Upper Carroll and Lower Akron.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
That's where I went to school.
Yes, UCLA.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
I was not a.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Bruin.
I was a Zip.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
What keeps you coming back Like what's your aha
moment over there?
Is there one particular aha orjust you know?
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You know what Throughout the years, and I sort
of divide my aha moments intowhen I was teaching in the
classroom or teaching in the gym, or teaching, or when I became
a principal.
So, throughout the years,making relations, I'm going to
tell you right now the main keyto any education is
(04:50):
relationships.
I mean I can make relationshipswith people.
I like talking to people.
My wife and my son don't likegoing to the grocery store with
me, because what would take anormal person a half hour takes
me three hours, because I stopand talk to people and but the
one thing is the aha moment.
You know I'll go to the storeand I'll see these kids 20 years
(05:12):
later.
And I'm big at giving outnicknames.
I love giving out nicknamesI've been bestowed upon them.
And then I like to stop andjust talk to them and say, hey,
how's your life going?
They tell me about their kids,they tell me this, they tell me
that, and I just I enjoybuilding that relationship and
(05:33):
then seeing the kids outafterwards and and knowing that
I made a difference with them.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And I attest to that.
I think that's why Phil's madesuch a good assistant principal,
because that assistantprincipal is the ones working
with that behavior.
They're working with thoseparents.
They're Phil.
That's like his number onething is relationship building,
so, and that's a good assistantprincipal.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And especially when I got into administration, you
know when you're in theclassroom, you you have well
when you're.
So I taught elementary phys ed.
I taught middle school phys edand health, then I taught high
school phys ed.
So a lot of the kids I had inelementary, I followed them and
I had them again in high school.
But you know, the big thing wasonce, once you become an
(06:32):
administrator, you have thatability to reach out to and
touch different kids and thewhole thing.
And you know, one thing is andI don't know if it makes them
mad or whatever if I'm goingdown the hallway and you know
how awkward that is sometimeswhen you're walking down the
hallway, just you and a studentI always say something to them,
(06:54):
pat them on the back, say, hey,what's up, dog, good to see you
today.
Blah, blah, blah.
To this day I still do that.
I'm actually at work right now,even though I'm retired, I'm
still subbing.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You couldn't get away , I'm actually at work right now
, Even though I'm retired.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
I'm still subbing, so I'm in subbing today.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You couldn't get away from it.
You're still.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
No, I just want to make as much as those Minerva
teachers make.
Oh okay, all right, that's mygoal in life All right, take us
to PBIS land now.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And what's some things that you pull away now?
Because you know, you and Italked a lot about PBIS whenever
I was big into it and you werelike, we're going to do these
things in my high school.
We're going to do these things,so let's take us down that road
.
What were things you put in atthe high school that you are
most proud of?
You thought were good thingsthat worked and kids enjoyed,
even at the high school level?
Because a lot of people sayPBIS is just for elementary, it
(07:46):
doesn't work at the high school,but it is not.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
I was one of those naysayers when you and I were
sitting in Punta Canta in theDominican Republic that we sat
there and we talked about thisand I'm like I don't know if
this is going to work for thehigh school, but at the end of
the day, high school kids arestill kids.
They're just big kids.
They still like to have fun.
So I would say a couple, and Istill get this.
I instituted a thing called whywe Love Wednesday.
So I would take a teacher andI'm going to read you one, if I
(08:19):
may.
So, being at a career technicalschool, we have different
programs.
Well, this one I wrote, and Iwrote about each teacher every
week.
So I would say why we loveWednesday.
We love Wednesday because of MrDyer, the criminal justice
program instructor.
(08:39):
The students in his class weartheir pride like a badge of
honor and will share if theyneed to.
Mr Dyer is a sharp dresserbecause his pants always have
cuffs.
If his classes ever make cookiebatter, they will never use a
half stir because they alwaysprefer a whole stir, because
(09:03):
they always prefer a holster.
After his students do PT, hehas them lay down and he reads
them nursery crimes while theyare arresting.
So everyone, put your hands upand give Mr Dyer a high five and
(09:26):
bring law and order to ourcriminal justice program.
So I would do that everyWednesday and I would do that
and I wrote one for the wholeschool when I retired last year.
I used every teacher.
But I'm not going to read thatone because it would take too
long.
But then what I would do on whywe love Wednesday is that I
(09:47):
would take stickers and I wouldput stickers under kids' trays
and if you got a sticker thenyou get to.
You came to me and I gave youtwo cookies.
So it was all random and thekids were always they're walking
, they're almost dumping theirtrays.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Because they're looking for that, and then we
would do teachers of the weekand then we would also have some
drawings where teachers we getto a certain part, Because it's
important for the kids.
But also PBIS needs to extendout to the teachers.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Because you know we don't want them to be forgotten,
because they're the ones thatdrive the chariot On Friday.
I wear crazy pants.
I didn't wear crazy pants today, but I've got a bunch of golf
pants, you know, zebra printed,ohio State, different ones that
I would always wear on Fridays.
(10:44):
And it's just a thing wherekids would say, hey, mr Ethel, I
like your pants, and that wouldbe a conversation started with
the kid and all that matters isjust getting that first word.
And I really enjoy talking tokids that don't like to talk,
because I try to get them out oftheir shell and I say you can
(11:07):
sit there and not talk to me,but I'm going to talk to you
because we need to make thatconnection, and they end up
doing that.
So I have candy out for thestudents.
So I got a pocket full of candyright now.
When I was at New Richmondyears ago, I would always have
fireballs not the candy youdrink, but the fireballs.
And these kids still talk aboutthat today because they'd eat
one and they go oh, let's seehow long we can keep this in our
(11:28):
mouth without having to go geta drink of water.
So they still talk about thattoday, but I still have candy.
So I'll walk down the hallwayand I'll see a kid and I'll
throw him a piece of candy.
I'll say, hey, have a good day.
And just that little gesturemakes a big difference, have a
good day.
And just that little gesturemakes a big difference.
And then we would also, each daywhen I was at Grant, I would
(11:49):
pull a kid out.
I'd go to a different program,pull a kid out and I'd have them
say the pledge for me or withme, just so they can get on
there.
And then I would give them ashout out hey, Diane Farrell,
out of the Allied Health Program, thank you for helping us.
They are a pleasure today.
And then also I would dobirthdays.
So I would play music on theirbirthdays.
(12:11):
I'd read every kid's birthdayin the morning, give them that.
Then on Friday I did the Fridaytrifecta, where I would play
songs like three and henceforththe name trifecta.
And then we would give giftcards.
So the kid would come down andthey'd fill out what songs they
were and they got a chance todraw for gift cards and
(12:36):
bracelets like this.
I still wear them.
I still wear these bracelets.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
That's a lot of acknowledging.
Oh, yes, this because I stillwear them.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I still wear these braces acknowledging oh yeah,
you are.
You are like pbis, stage one,tier one, like overload here
well, I went to the dianefarrell school of pbis it was a
long week in punta cana it wasit was because her husband was
sick, so we had to.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We hadn't talked PBIS .
Speaker 2 (13:03):
We did, and but you know what, even though Phil,
who's a big jokester, you know,was kind of riding me about PBIS
back then because that wasyears and years ago, what was
that like six or seven years ago, I mean?
Speaker 3 (13:14):
that's a lot.
No, it's been before that.
It's probably been a betterpart of 10.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
It might have been, and you part of 10.
It might have been, and, uh,you were riding me about that
being an elementary thing, andthen you come back and took all
these things.
Now what I say, phil, is didyou ever look at any like?
Do you think all of that tierone acknowledged made those kids
change in wanting to come toschool?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Oh, absolutely.
I think it's important becauseyou know the education that we
live in now.
You know, with the pandemic in2020, yada, yada, yada,
attendance is crazy.
You know you have to give thekids a reason to want to be at
school and you know it's just aseasy, like I say, if I see a
(14:03):
kid just sitting by themselves,I'm going to sit down, I'm going
to talk to them because theyhave to want to be here.
You know it's important that ifyou don't make those
connections and really PBIS tierone is all about making those
connections and making themaking, the relationship
building.
And once again, I know peopleare going to say my god, he's
(14:24):
had relationship a thousandtimes.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, I can, I can say the thousand one, because
it's important that that's themain thing, absolutely if kids
don't like, you know you sittingdown by that one kid or you
know your candy fireballs or youknow your wacky wednesdays or
whatever you.
But if they feel like ifthey're sitting at home they're
missing that we know as well asI do kids who miss school.
(14:51):
It's harder to go back toschool Like it's hard because
now you've got all the thingsyou missed and all the things
that make you anxious about notgoing because you missed all
this stuff.
So your relationship piece andthat whole attendance piece is
huge, especially at high schooland at Clearsburg.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
And I, you know I had to be in the assistant
principal because I was here forthree years and I was at New
Richmond for the other 11.
You know the attendance.
You get to get the kids in hereand I would work with juvenile
court and we would try to makesure that the kids were getting
here.
You know I never yelled at themso on and so forth, but I told
them why it's important to behere.
You know I would sit there andI've suspended kids, a lot of
(15:34):
kids in my lifetime, but ninetimes out of 10, I would sit
there and we would have aconversation, we would talk
about what we need to do toimprove our behavior, what we
need to do to fix this problem,and then when they come back,
we're going to put in our rearview mirror.
We're not going to look back andwe're going to move forward and
I would tell the kids, you know, at the end of the day hey, you
(15:54):
know what I say, do you think Ilike you?
And they'd say I don't know,maybe.
I said no, I don't like you atall.
I said I love you and I said Ido love you and I said I want
you when you come back, and ninetimes out of 10, or even the
parents would say, hey, thankyou, I appreciate that.
And when they came back, Iwouldn't sit there and shun them
.
I would sit there and say, hey,I'm glad to have you back today
(16:16):
.
Now let's get this thing goingand then, boom, we'd be fine not
saying come on.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So now let's think in the lens of schools that want
to do this, but there isresistance, especially at the
high school, though, like wedon't have time for this.
You know, we don't have timefor this.
What's your what?
What?
What would you say to school?
Like, because you were thatdon't have time for this, going
to suspend somebody when they'reback.
You know, what would you say toschools?
(16:46):
What's your advice?
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Well, my advice would be in today's educational
climate, it's just another toolin the toolbox.
It's important.
You need to have something andyou know you don't have to.
Like I say, we started out tierone.
We were tier one a couple ofyears.
We're at it now.
(17:09):
Before I left last year, we putsome tier two and tier three
pieces in place, which they aredoing now.
But you know what I would tellwhoever's thinking about it you
need to do it, you really needto do it, and I think it's all.
Is it not state mandated nowthat yes.
(17:29):
Okay, and if you're and I'm aI'm a firm believer if you're
going to do anything, do it withvalidity and make sure that you
do it and do it right, cause ifyou don't do it, and you do it
half-assed, excuse me out therein PBIS land If you do that and
you don't go all in and itdoesn't have to be it could
start out small.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's what I was saying how would you start, like
, how did you go back after thatPunta Cana trip and start it?
What did you start?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
thinking that wasn't overwhelming your step.
Well, the relationship part hasalways been there for me and
you know I I've I've toldteachers that that have worked
for me.
You know, build relationshipwith the kids, which the
teachers here at grant are greatat building relationships with
(18:18):
the kids, but they need to makehere's's what I've said a
thousand times.
I have spoken to a non-millionparents, but I'm talking to a
crap load of parents and if youcan talk to the parents and
their parents know that you havea vested interest in their
child, that parent will walkthrough fire for you and it's
(18:43):
just a matter of making a phonecall, not an email.
It's more personal to make thatphone call.
But to go back to your question, you know when I got started?
I don't know.
You know I'm 61 years old butI've got a mindset of a
12-year-old, I think At least mywife tells me that yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Diane tells me that too all the time.
The thing is I just startedlike the why we Love Wednesdays
in the pants and the Friday.
These are just things I thoughtup how to get more kids
involved.
And then also he gives a shoutout to the teachers yeah, you
(19:27):
get to have sit there and havethat for the teachers, which
they appreciate it too, becausethey always say, hey, can I get
a copy?
So I got to make a copy of itand they hang them up in a room,
say where it is a badge ofhonor too.
So yes, and I would just say,you know, start out small and
then, just, you know, noteverything's going to work.
Some kids may look at it andsay it's cheesy, but I was just
(19:50):
talking to some students todayand we were talking about why we
love Wednesday and they saidwhy don't you bring that back?
We want to hear that again.
We want why we love Wednesdays.
And I said why don't you bringthat back?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
We want to hear that again, we want why we love
Wednesdays because the kidsenjoy it.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It is what it is.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Your advice is to just start out small.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Start out small.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
And then it'll snowball.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Right, and and, once again, if you you have to have
some sort of committee, youcan't.
It can't be.
So we've had committees before.
So we've had committees before.
So we got a PBIS committee hereat Grant, but you got to have
people that are fun.
You can't have sticks in themud.
(20:29):
You can't have people that thatare just going to.
You can't have a naysayer onthere.
You got to have people that arevested in it and want to make
it prosperous.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So do you like your committee?
You have to say that becausepeople might hear this.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Absolutely.
I like my committee because Iwent out and I got them.
I know who the fun people are.
They want to work with FP FunPhil and I'm like, hey, I love
it.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So you so really a lot of this is the
acknowledgement system.
When you were putting thistogether, did you guys come up
with some big rules like thethree big rules be safe, be
responsible, be respectful, orsomething like that.
So it's kind of universal inthe they do.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And you put me on the spot because we have one here
at Grant and, like G stands forgratitude and we make sure that
it's R's respect.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Oh my gosh, you put me oh, that's OK, that's OK.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
But my point is yes, we follow them because we do
also do the PPIS referral system.
And so whenever a kid gets areferral and they would come to
my office, I'd say well, let'slook at the Grant logo, let's
look at this, let's see where wedidn't quite meet expectations
and what can we do next time.
(21:44):
To do that.
And the teachers too are goodabout making sure that the kids
are following the acronym forgrant.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So I was just wondering, because you know to
get a school on board, youreally kind of you need that,
you need the matrix, you needthe rules, just so everybody
knows the expectations, thestudents and the teachers across
the board.
Right, you have put all of thatin place.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
We have.
We have expectations for theclassroom, we got expectations
for the cafeteria, we gotexpectations for labs, we got
expectations for hall cafeteria,we got expectations for labs,
we got expectations for hallways, bus blah, blah, blah.
We've got all that, but onceagain, it ain't worth the paper
it's written on if you don'tfollow through.
And then henceforth?
That's why it's important thatthe teachers understand that,
(22:35):
which most of them, theyunderstand that here.
But you also have to have thatsupport from administration.
Because you don't have thatsupport from administration, it
can fall to the wayside veryeasily.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It is true, phil and we've talked about that a lot
that if you, you know you needyour committee, you need your
people on board, but you needthat stamp of approval from the
administration.
You need them to go.
This is what we want you all todo.
This is so that your stafffollows through on that.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Even your walnuts.
And you know, the other thingis, it's called a framework for
a reason, it's a PBIS framework.
You come across people who sayjust tell me what to do.
Well, that doesn't work,because the framework is the
guidelines and then each schoolputs their spin on it, and I
love how you've put your spin onit.
(23:26):
You know a lot of theacknowledgement.
Yeah, you have other things inplace, but for you the most
important thing is therelationships and the
acknowledgement Absolutely,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Because kids happy kids who want to come to school
will behave better they willThan kids who don't want to be
there and aren't happy whilethey're there.
So that's Well.
I think our time is up, mrHeflin.
We've had a great show.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Oh my gosh, I tell you what.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Look how fast it went .
Speaker 3 (23:54):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Look how fast it went .
Speaker 3 (23:56):
You know what?
Because Lord knows, I can talk.
We can talk a little bit moreif you want to go into overtime.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Well, what we're going to do is we're going to
zero down on this one, but wewould love to have you back
sometime.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
You have been listening to Phil Heflin giving
us a perspective on theacknowledgement system at the
high school level.
Thank you for listening to PBISJourney to Genius.
Please reach out to us atPBISJourneytoGenius at gmailcom
or look for us on Facebook andInstagram.
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