CLMS Welcomes Special Guest

CLMS Welcomes Special Guest for PBIS Celebration
Posted on 05/22/2023
Chestnut Log Middle School welcomed a special guest on Monday, as over 70 students got to hear from a general in the U.S. Air Force. Brigadier General Kelvin D. McElroy visited students in the school’s media center on Monday as part of their PBIS reward. 

“This really started as a conversation. I and a few other teachers wanted to try and set up a plan for students who were doing really well with behavior,” said CLMS science teacher Andra Crumbley. “A lot of times with PBIS, we focus on the negative with behavior, but with this, we wanted to focus on students who have great character and are positive examples and reward them with something special.”

To do this, Crumbley joined forces with a few other teachers and came up with the idea to invite General McElroy to CLMS’ campus to speak to these students as a reward for their positive behavior. 

During his visit to CLMS, McElroy spoke to students about his job. Currently he serves as the Mobilization Assistant to the Director of Logistics, Civil Engineering, Force Protection, and Nuclear Integration. In this role, he directs policy and procedures for field and depot-level aircraft and commodities maintenance, nuclear weapon systems sustainment, software engineering, conventional munitions, logistics plans, transportation, supply chain operations and management, civil engineering, force protection and logistics information technology activities.

Along with discussing his job, McElroy also shared his journey with students while offering words of encouragement and advice. Following his speech, McElroy hosted a questions and answers session in which several students got to ask more questions about his job and learn more about potential military career opportunities. 

“A lot of the students were a little shy asking questions in front of the larger group. So we told them that if they wanted to hang around afterward and ask individually they could, and almost half the students stayed to ask questions,” said Tanisha Matthews, one of the event’s organizers. “A lot of students asked for pictures and even his autograph on their invitations, and they really seemed to enjoy getting to hear from someone like General McElroy.”

Both Crumbley and Matthews were excited following McElroy’s visit, as they added the importance of recognizing students’ positive behavior while also providing opportunities for them to learn about new and exciting potential career paths. 

“He spoke a lot about STEM and the many career opportunities that it provides, because that’s the field that he works in,” said Matthews. “A lot of our students didn’t realize that so many jobs in the military can fall under a STEM field.”

In the future, both Matthews and Crumbley say that they hope to have more speakers like McElroy in the building to continue rewarding students and allowing them to see the many career opportunities that are available to them. 

“This was great, and we got a very positive student response,” said Crumbley. “We’re definitely excited to see how we can continue hosting events like this one to reward students’ for positive behavior and high character.”
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