Patriotism is the word of the month for our Character Education program. On May 17th we will come together as a school community and wear red, white and blue.
Patriotism is the quality of being supportive for one’s country. One way to show devotion to our country is to honor and respect the American flag. Pam Ryan’s The Flag We Love reminds us of our country’s ideals.
Ronald Reagan said, “If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.” Another way to show your patriotism is to honor our service men and women. Vetiquette is a character education program that teaches children the importance of showing gratitude for our veterans and particularly for gold star families (families that have lost an immediate family member in service to our country). Here are additional biographies of some true American Heroes – Vetiquette 2019.
A Blue Star Family Member is someone who has an immediate family member serving now. (Immediate family member means a parent, child or sibling)
A Gold Star Family member is someone who had an immediate family member die while serving our country.
Celebrating holidays like Labor Day, Patriot Day, Independence Day and Flag Day are ways to show Patriotism. Memorial Day is this month and is an important holiday to show patriotism. Here’s more.
It is time to get those creative juices going again! Mrs. McBride is offering another opportunity to put your skills to work and show your spirit. Find out more details for this month’s challenge here – 
On Tuesday and Friday, please wear blue. As a school community, we are going to show our support for Autism Awareness and our monthly assembly, Respect! This is a great time to show respect for others and others diagnosed with Autism.
March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD.) “It is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. Down Syndrome International (DSI) encourages friends all over the world to raise awareness of what Down Syndrome is, what it means to have Down syndrome, and how people with Down Syndrome play a vital role in our lives and communities.”
SOCSD afforded an amazing opportunity for students in grades 5-8. Malala Yousafzai spoke to our students about the importance of education and especially for girls. She has a new book called, We are Displaced. Please read or listen (scroll to the bottom of page) to her biography – 
