Quick Words:

schools-community-team-HOM

Full Text:

Working For The Common Good At HOM

(with cuts)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

How do you teach responsibility, caring, thinking and respect?

Head O' Meadow teachers Phil Cruz, Gail Diminico, Matt Kascak and Barbara

Clark grappled with that question, and decided that the classroom wasn't big

enough.

They invited fifth graders to team up with them to discover how they could

help the school and wider community and formed the School Community Team

(SCT).

Mr Kascak said that right from the start, the kids were brimming with ideas of

how they could help people. He said, "They came up with so many ideas, I'd

have to say `we're only a small group, we can't do everything!'"

Yet one of their goals, of nurturing a sense of community within the school,

fit beautifully with another, giving to the food pantry.

Through monthly assemblies and morning announcements given by the students,

the SCT spread their helpful ideas throughout the school.

Soon kids in all grades were contributing bright handmade construction paper

placemats and non-perishable foods to the food pantry.

Gail Diminico said it made the kids feel really good. She said that to be able

to set their own goals, and see that their work affects the lives of others,

"puts ownership back into the students' hands."

Bobby Grauer, fifth grader, said that he really liked making new signs for the

fire exits at the school. He said that this would help people in the school if

they didn't know where they were supposed to go in an emergency.

As students developed a more critical eye they noticed more things around the

school that they could improve. They increased the functionality of the

school's media center by rearranging the furniture.

The SCT took down manufactured posters and put children's art work on the

walls, giving the school a warmer atmosphere.

Formed in November of last year, the group started to really gain momentum

this spring.

They sent messages of caring in the form of handmade Valentine's Day cards for

people at the Ashlar Residence and the Veteran's Hospital.

If you shopped at Grand Union last week, your groceries may have been packed

in a bag with an environmental message on it, made by the students at Head O'

Meadow.

Another initiative, Project Aces, will get the kids involved in yet a larger

community. Schools across the nation will exercise at the same time

(Wednesday, May 6, at 10 am). And, to add fun to recess time for the children

in their own school, the SCT has decided to repaint worn-off hopscotch games

on the pavement.

With all the fun, exciting and meaningful projects the SCT has initiated, they

have plenty of ideas to offer to others.

So, their last activity planned for the year is a video, to culminate the

program and make a record of what they have accomplished.

Besides the obvious benefit to the school and community, the SCT has helped in

the overall educational development of the participants.

Josie Rau, a fifth grader in SCT, has developed a sense of responsibility to

the school and community, taking a strong interest in passing ideas and

information on to others. She said she loves doing morning announcements and

writing for The Newtown Bee .

Will she become a journalist? Maybe. But she's not sure.

But whatever she does become, she can use the critical thinking skills, and

sense of responsibility, caring, and respect garnered with SCT, to enhance any

work she does.