By Judith A. McLaughlin
For the second year in a row, Lawrenceville Elementary School (LES) has been named a New Jersey School of Character. This recognition acknowledged eight schools in the state that excel by demonstrating an outstanding character education initiative that yields positive results in student behavior, school climate, and academic performance.
During LES’ Awesome Assembly this week, the entire school celebrated this accomplishment by sporting crowns that said, “LES is Awesome!” LES’ Mission is to strive daily to develop “caring, responsible, contributing citizens.” It is their belief that if these values are developed and reinforced at school, it will make ethical decision making an instinctive response in their students’ lives outside of the confines of the school walls.
The stakeholders at LES agree that their Mission Statement and one of their goals should be dedicated to character education and the development of students who know, care about and act upon core ethical values. They have found that placing the emphasis on the Six Pillars of Character, Caring, Citizenship, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, and Trustworthiness has simplified the process so that even their youngest learners can understand character concepts.
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“I am so proud of the staff and students at Lawrenceville Elementary School for having earned this distinction for two consecutive years,” reacted Judith McLaughlin, LES principal. “ Our focus is not only academic achievement, but focusing on the whole child as well through character development.”
The LES community supports the school’s commitment to character development. “As parents of three LES children, we do our best to teach them kindness, responsibility and to make good choices that work. It is wonderful that the school has helped put into place a variety of programs that support and reinforce the building of good character based on respect for themselves and others. LES is a special place!” exclaimed Harper and Dan Collins.
A large component of LES’ character initiative consists of teaching empathy through service learning projects. The school just completed their ninth annual “Souper” Bowl Food Drive benefiting the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK.) At the Awesome Assembly, math specialists Karen Hall and Eva Bostick-Fuller and their team of third grade mathematicians shared with the children the results of LES’ ninth annual “Souper” Bowl Food Drive benefiting TASK. Thanks to the many donations from LES families, they were able to pack a total of 253 dinner bags, all containing a main course (pasta or tuna salad with crackers), a juice box, a fruit cup and dessert.
The third grade CARE (Children Acting Responsibly Everyday) Kids delivered the dinner bags to TASK recently, using school buses and kid power to pack and deliver the packages. The mathematicians measured the bags, and determined that if the 253 bags were lined up end-to-end they would measure as long as a Boeing Business Jet or as high as the Magellan Telescope.
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Continuing with the celebration, Diana Trumper’s second grade class sang and played rhythmic instruments to “Extraordinary,” the school’s theme song written by music teacher Rebecca Young. Susan Rooney’s third grade class recited a poem entitled “Volunteering” written by their teacher. Rosemarie Monteleone and Cari Gallagher’s first grade classes sang and marched to the “New Jersey School of Character Song” with lyrics written by Kathy Jensen, school counselor.
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