Cyndi Loza

The faint sound of disappointed groans were heard in the halls of Gurrie Middle School Tuesday, as the winner was announced for a drum cymbal signed by the award-winning rock band My Chemical Romance.

The drum cymbal was raffled to students at the middle school in southwest suburban La Grange as part of PBIS, the school’s Positive Behavior Incentive Program. The program serves to reward students for acts of good behavior.

“This is so cool,” said 13-year-old Emily Thuma, winner of the cymbal.

Ryan Kelly, a teaching assistant at the school, explained that each student is given a “tiger stripe” every time they demonstrate behavior that is positive. If a teacher witnesses a student helping another student pick up their books, for example, they receive a tiger stripe.

“We noticed that students that don’t [always] exhibit the best behavior have really made an effort to exhibit positive behavior,” Kelly said.

Normally, Gurrie students would use their tiger stripes to enter smaller raffles for Best Buy certificates or redeem them for candy during lunch. However, after Kelly met My Chemical Romance drummer Bob Bryar at a concert in March at Allstate Arena, the band offered the signed cymbal as another incentive for PBIS.

Because the band members are in the spotlight, they have a responsibility to be positive role models, Bryar said in a phone interview. Sometimes the message is lost because of the group’s hard-driving image.

“There’s a lot of people in the media that try to convey this band as violent,” said Bryar. “Our main message we’re trying to convey is — just to be happy.”