As part of W.S. Mount Elementary School’s character education program Character Counts, students are regularly engaged in meaningful learning activities that emphasize the importance of being healthy and maintaining a bully-free environment. The program focuses on the six pillars of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship – and rewards students who are “caught” displaying each of these characteristics.
At the primary level this fall, these complex messages were reinforced through an entertaining initiative that began with the students reading aloud “Spookley the Square Pumpkin,” a story that teaches younger students to accept differences in others. After learning how Spookley’s differences helped him save the rest of his patch, the students created their own artistic, and in some cases edible, displays of square pumpkins.
“At Mount Elementary School, we believe that good character is vital to the overall social and emotional well-being of our students,” said Assistant to the Principal Brigit DiPrimo, who created the K-2 Spookley initiative and a large display case to reinforce its purpose. “Many of our teachers have extended the book’s message of tolerance by creating bulletin boards and displays. It is a wonderful way to engage younger students and teach them the importance of accepting others and embracing differences.”