This week we will celebrate “Start with Hello” week, which is a week to remind us how important and powerful it is to get to know one another, make new friends, say hi to new people, and make people feel good if they are feeling sad or alone. Every day you can do a special activity to remember to try and include others. Whether on the school bus, in the playground or in class, it is important to make sure others feel included and welcome.

Sometimes to do this, you need courage. Courage can mean a lot of things and people can act courageously in a lot of different situations. Listen to Bernard Waber’s book, Courage. Think about what courage means to you and how you too can act courageously in every day kind of ways.

Courage is also staring with Hello! Let’s try to be courageous by getting to know new people and by helping others who might need a friend.

This year our Character Education theme is “Communities form Connections.”  Through building relationships, we can build a better school, community and world. Each month we will highlight a character trait and use a read aloud to reinforce this trait.September is Communities Show Empathy.  Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah wrote 14 Cows for America. One inscription reads, “To all the little children who read this book. You are the peace the world has been waiting for. May you grow to be compassionate diplomats.” You have the ability to make the world and our school a better place.What can you do this year to heal a sorrowing heart? How will you show empathy? Please post your comment to our class blog.  Remember… this blog is an extension of our classroom.  Communicate clearly and be respectful of others.

September Roses is another great book like 14 Cows for America. Both demonstrate how others show empathy. “On September 11, 2001, two sisters from South Africa are flying to New York City with 2,400 roses to be displayed at a flower show. As their plane approaches the airport, a cloud of black smoke billows over the Manhattan skyline. When they land, they learn of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All flights are canceled; the sisters cannot go home, and they are stranded with boxes and boxes of roses.”

What can you do to show empathy today, this month, this school year?

Our class did an amazing job running this month’s assembly. We honored our Gold Star families and shared how we can show Patriotism.

Congratulations Jacob for receiving April’s Word of the Month Respect.

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 – The Patriotism Challenge.

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.

What else can you do? Please visit Mrs. McBride’s website for further details – Blue for Autism.