MERIDIAN —     Northeast Lauderdale High School hosted a pizza party for the students that qualified for the School Counts program as a reward for good grades and good behavior.

    With the program in its fourth year, Debbie Howze, the counselor at Northeast, and Duffee Williams, the School Counts Coordinator, both agree that the success and impact has slowly increased with time. Howze said since they got on board with School Counts, "we probably have more kids that qualify, which shows improvement in the students' behavior."

    There are several criteria that students must meet in order to be recognized by School Counts: they have to be at school and on time 97 percent of the year, they must maintain at least a C average, they are allowed no more than one office referral in a semester and they must be on target to graduate. These are all habits that will make the students good employees in the workplace and better students as they move forward in their academic careers.

    "School Counts is a program that the EMBDC (East Mississippi Business Development Corporation) developed several years ago, and it is a way for businesses to partner with the schools," Williams said. "It encourages the kinds of behaviors at school that have been proven to be indicators of success in jobs."

    More than 150 businesses in the Meridian community have agreed to give priority to School Counts cardholders when applying and interviewing for jobs. These identification cards become part of the students' resumes, and serve as proof of their ability to work well with others and authority figures.

    "If you're an employer, certainly you are looking for somebody who is going to show up for work and somebody who is going to be on time, that's going to do good work while they are at work and that's going to get along with other people while they are there," Williams said.

    This program is simply aiming to encourage good habits and rewards those students who buy into the idea.

    "I think a lot of us lack the intrinsic internal drive," Howze said. "Most people respond better to positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement, and [School Counts] is a positive reinforcement."

    Northeast High School, Southeast High School, Clarkdale High School and Meridian High School are all involved in the organization this year, and between the four schools, about 500 students qualified. Students are recruited at the beginning of their 10th grade years and about 50 percent of the students meet the criteria by the end of the year.

    The future is blurry as to improvements and changes to the program, but Howze said she hopes that more of the community will get involved in the schools.

    "I think the more community is involved, in whatever capacity, the better the understanding is for both sides." Howze said. "When the kids see an interest from an outside source, that is reinforcing that what they are doing matters, and when the community sees what the kids deal with from the inside, there can also be more focus on tending to their needs."

    School counts is gaining momentum in the business community and the local schools. They say they are on a mission to encourage high school students that the traits, habits and characteristics they learn in school are important after graduation.