Starting The Year Out Right
On the first day of school, Principal Liz Garden and all the teachers and staff at Henry P. Clough Elementary School in Mendon, MA welcomed their students back to school wearing their colorful and bright Choose To Be Nice t-shirts! Liz had already witnessed the positive impact that Choose To Be Nice had at her previous school and was eager to start this school year off on the right foot.
At the school-wide assembly where students were introduced to Choose To Be Nice and the nine core character traits/skills behind the program, the 385 Pre-K to 4th graders were invited to sign the Choose To Be Nice Promise banner which now hangs prominently in the school lobby.
The Choose To Be Nice message and year-long program were natural complements to the time set aside each week for KCR Time (Kindness, Caring and Respect), which Clough Elementary had already been doing. KCR Time is run by specialist staff such as the school librarian who might choose to read Thank You, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco to a second grade class during Respect month, or the PE teacher who might engage the kids in a tug-of-war game during Teamwork month.
The Whole School Participates
One of the great things about the way CTBN has been adopted at Clough Elementary is that anyone can give a “shout-out” to a student they think exemplifies the character trait of the month. Throughout the school year staff members nominate students for monthly Choose To Be Nice awards. Students are recognized at their monthly all-school assembly, and over the intercom during morning announcements. “I’ve gotten write-ups about students not just from our teachers, but also from our cafeteria staff, and from our school nurse! Anyone who sees a student demonstrating one of the CTBN character traits can nominate that student for recognition,” Ms. Garden says.
School Family Time
Another way Clough Elementary is using CTBN is to integrate the monthly character trait into their school’s “Family Time”. Students from the different grades and one adult staff member are put together into “family groups” of ten. Once a month the groups meet and discuss the character trait of the month and the many ways that it can be used to make school more fun and relationships and interactions go smoother. “We’re about to go on Winter Break, and when we come back we’ll use our family time and the character trait of Patience to discuss how to transition back to being in school after being on vacation for a week,” Ms. Garden said. The groups also give the older students an opportunity to mentor the younger ones.
Benefits Extend Beyond The Classroom
Ms. Garden has received positive feedback from parents and guardians about Choose To Be Nice, too! “I’ve heard from parents who say that since we’ve been using Choose To Be Nice their kids are talking to their younger siblings about being more patient, or respectful,” she says. And that sounds like a win-win situation for all!
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