Good behavior and positive environments at Dallas County and Selma City schools are being rewarded through the juvenile court system.

Friday morning, District Judge Bob Armstrong and others traveled to Tipton Middle School to applaud and recognize the students and faculty with this year’s Safe School Award.

The school, Social Studies teacher Janet Watts said, was excited to bring the award back.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized as a safe school,” she said. “We let it get away from us for a year, but we were proud to bring it back.”

The award, Armstrong said, started five years ago as a way to encourage students to choose positive paths to success. The award is given to the school that has the least amount of students appearing in juvenile court and the least problems reported. Armstrong said Tipton has always tried to set the bar high for the program.

“Tipton Middle School is one of the best kept secrets in Dallas County,” he said. “They have an awesome school out here and we are so proud of them.”

During the awards ceremony the school was presented with a trophy and more that $3,000 in prizes, including laptops, DVD players and other electronics were given out to students who displayed good behavior and positive attitudes.

Juvenile court probation officer and Safe School program coordinator Mike Irwin told the students he was excited to make a return trip to the Tipton campus.

“You’ve done a great job,” he said. “You dove into this head first. When you go to Southside take this experience with you. You have an opportunity to change the environment at Southside too.”

David Brantley, who also deals with young people through the B.R.A.N.T. Center, said the program is great because it engages the students and proves good behavior pays off.

“We are trying to correct problems,” he said. “For us to be able to talk to kids about positive things is awesome.”

Since the program began in 2007, Armstrong said there has been a drop in juvenile court appearances and hopes to see that trend continue.