CHAMPS at Bazzell Middle School

By Teri Neal

Here at James E. Bazzell Middle School (JEBMS) we have a program called CHAMPs.  CHAMPs stands for Classroom Help Activity Participation.  We started using CHAMPs a year ago.  This program controls student’s voice level and traffic in the hallways and classrooms.  There are different voice levels for different situations.  The different voice levels are as follows:

Voice Level                           What it is                                          When to use the voice level

                0                              No talking                                              -During morning announcements

                                                                                                                -Assemblies

                                                                                                                -Emergency drills

                                                                                                                -When the teacher is giving instructions

                1                              Whisper                                                 -In between classes at the lockers

                                                                                                                -Getting help from a student with homework

                2                              Regular speaking voice                     -Going to classes leaving the gym

                                                                                                                -At the end of the day going to the buses

                3                              Classroom discussion                         -During classroom discussions

                4                              Outside voice                                      -Outside at break

                                                                                                                -When someone is injured

CHAMPs is not just about maintaining a students voice level, but also to keep hallways from being crowded.  To keep the hallways in order we have blue stripes on each side of the hall.  We are always supposed to walk on the right side of the hall with both feet on the blue stripes.  The only time we are allowed to walk on the left side of the hall is in the afternoon going to the buses, and during emergency drills.  Staying on the right side of the hall keeps the hallways less crowded.  I personally think the CHAMPs program is a good idea.