“Character is higher than intellect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

A free publication is available to educators and others. School Violence: A Prevention Program is available from Insurance Services Office, Inc. The report provides an overview of the scope of violence in schools and outlines steps that schools, communities, parents and students can take to prevent such violence. For a free copy of the report,… Read more »

“Service is the rent we pay for our lives on earth In recent years service has come to have a negative connotation — often used as punishment. At the same time service is one of the major avenues in developing positive attitudes and healthy self-esteem. I would like to propose that all students be strongly… Read more »

1. Accept Change as the Norm. Concentrate on becoming a lifelong learner not one who sees education as the completion of a formal education. 2. Success is fly in the eye of a frog. Success is more in what you give to others rather than a big bank account. Focus on the right priorities and… Read more »

An educational administrator’s professional behavior must conform to an ethical code. The code must be idealistic and at the same time practical, so that it can apply reasonably to all educational administrators. The administrator acknowledges that the schools belong to the public they serve for the purpose of providing educational opportunities to all. However, the… Read more »

Character Chart Our Mission is to become a Respectful listener, Cooperative team member, Compassionate friend, Controlled Self Manager, and a Polite and Courteous person . By assigning responsibility Partners You can invite children in your class to circle the X”s as they demonstrate courtesy! Courtesy Challenge Respectful listener X X X X X X X… Read more »

An 8th-grade project turns into new rules Catcalls will get your parents called. So will dirty notes and lewd staring. Groping, or one too many crude comments, means in-school suspension. These are the new rules of sexual harassment for students at Avondale Middle School, as developed by Maria Kopicki’s eighth-grade class. Come fall, what started… Read more »

This month: An introduction to “Journeys” through Crow and Weasel by Barry Lopez with an emphasis on themes of self-esteem, cultural diversity, respect, friendship, goals, creativity, learning and expressing in multiple ways. I love to start the year with this book because in essence it is a story of why we’re here with each other…. Read more »

(Note. Minor editing changes are included ) Advantages — This policy will reduce and eliminate a lot of teasing and touching presently existing in schools. School officials and teaching staff will be responsible for carrying out this policy. Disadvantages- Students may not always be trustworthy when reporting sexual harassment and may get innocent students in… Read more »

WASHINGTON — Teenagers who do not get along well with their fathers are more likely to smoke, drink and use drugs than youngsters in average two-parent families, according to a national study released Monday. Further, the study found, even teenagers from one-parent families, typically headed by mothers, are less at risk from tobacco, alcohol and… Read more »