Holliston Elementary Schools Character Goals
Responsibility -(One of our Core Values.) Help children learn to be
responsible for their own actions.
Confidence-Instill in children the feeling that they are able to succeed and
meet life’s challenges.
Motivation -Work to motivate children to do their best and have a desire to succeed.
Caring- Demonstrate to children that it is important to show concern for
others and help others.
Effort -Teach children that it pays off to do their best and work hard.
Problem Solving-Practice decision making with children, learning to solve
problems based on previous experiences.
Teamwork -Learning to work well with others is a prerequisite to many school experiences.
Determination-Teach children the importance of following through and
completing what they start.
Action-Encourage children to take the initiative and move with action on their own.
Program Wins Grant to Help Fathers Become Men
By John W. Fountain — Washington Post Staff Writer
One heart at a time. One mind at a time. One man at a time.That is the aim of
a national organization working to build strong African American families by
leading fathers back down the road of responsibility.The Institute for
Responsible Fatherhood and Family Revitalization announced yesterday that it
has received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to train
about 500 non-custodial fathers across the country over the next year and to
help them find jobs or, in
some cases, better jobs. At a news conference at a Northeast Washington
housing complex, Charles A. Ballard, the institute’s CEO and founder, said the
federal welfare-to-work grant gives a boost to the group’s existing Employment
Opportunities Program.
“The whole idea here is to reduce the welfare roll,”
Ballard said. “This is a put-men-to-work program. It’s not just finding him a
job, but finding him a new attitude.”The new campaign will focus on men who
live in targeted “high-risk” areas of the six cities where the institute has
offices. In addition to the District, the cities are Cleveland, Milwaukee,San
Diego, Nashville and Yonkers, N.Y.
Many of the men who will receive training are without steady employment
experience and lack education or job skills. Some are ex-offenders and former
drug addicts. Ballard said the $4.5 million price tag is a fraction of the
cost to incarcerate for a year the same number of men it intends to train.
The campaign’s kickoff was announced at Paradise at
Parkside Apartments on Hayes Street NE. Among those in attendance was Mayor
Marion Barry, who commended the group for its effort to help at least 80
jobless or unemployed fathers in Ward 7 qualify for and find gainful
employment.The end result, organizers insist, is not simply to help men find
better jobs, but to help them begin to see themselves through the prism of
possibility.”There are jobs out there. The problem is with the heart,” said
Bruce M. Jenkins, 42, who manages the institute’s office in Northeast, which
has been targeted. “Employers say: ‘People we can get. But people with the
right mind is what we’re looking for.’ “Organizers say their Employment
Opportunities Program aims to succeed where similar
job-training programs have fallen short. In some similar programs, Ballard
said, men have completed training courses and received certificates only to
find no jobs waiting.
The institute will provide the link to employment, working with the American
Institute for Full Employment, a national organization that provides support
for job placement. Part of the initial task in training participants is to
create a “comprehensive master plan” for each man in the program after he has
undergone a needs assessment, officials said. The training will incorporate
such topics as professional attire and etiquette, in addition to placement
assistance and follow-up counseling once a person lands a job.
Although the program’s welfare-to-work campaign wasn’t announced officially
until yesterday, officials said they began working under the new mandate in
July and already have helped 10 men get jobs.
The institute, which is based in Washington, has gained national recognition
for its success in encouraging men to be good fathers and in reuniting fathers
with their children.The program provides counseling, support groups and
mentoring by successful fathers. Under the program’s guidelines, men who
participate must establish paternity, finish their high school educations and
get jobs. Its office in Northeast Washington opened in May 1995 and has worked
with more than 100 men, 75 women and 150 children, officials said.
“My relationship with my son is better. I got in touch with myself,” said
Leroy Ware, 47, an ex-offender who sought the services of the institute two
years ago.”Some of the teachings made me more aware of the situation with
myself,” said Ware, adding that he now counsels female ex-offenders. “It’s
like a light bulb.”