The Power Of...

COMMUNITY

    Many of you may have seen the sign outside the front of the administration building at school.  It says, "Welcome to Our School Community".  Some of you may have seen yellow signs above each of the buildings on our school campus that say "Responsibility Road", "Kindness Cove", "Honesty Highway", "Fairness Freeway", "Joy Junction", etc.  Do you see a common theme?

    This summer a couple of teachers presented this idea to Mrs. Collins and me and we thought it was great.  After all, we are a community here at school and sometimes we consider ourselves a family of sorts.

    You might say this is just another character education program, but I believe it is more than just that.  As teachers and students, we may need to be reminded that our basic purpose in education is to teach subject matter but, more that that, it is to help instill in ourselves and our students the ethical concept of caring for others.  These character traits we used in naming our buildings should remind all of us to be the best we can be -- academically, and, as a person.  We should ALL be making good choices in how we act and how we treat others.  This is a lifelong venture to try to "get it right" and be the best person we can be.  All of us, no matter what age, need to work on these traits each day.  It doesn't hurt to be reminded.  All of us at school need to practice these traits each day.

    As teachers, we are the primary models of character in our students' lives for most of the week.  We will either serve as positive examples or negative examples and I believe teaching these lessons by modeling positive character traits on a daily basis is just the right thing to do.  I believe that students benefit greatly from a school experience that is rich in positive character being taught, modeled, and promoted each day.

    I hope, as parents, we are modeling and teaching these traits at home.

                                                                                   Pat Stone, Counselor at IAC