By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The Lawrence Middle School has joined the list of Lawrence Township public schools that have been named as New Jersey Schools of Character the first step toward being considered for the honor of being named as a National School of Character by the Character Education Partnership.
Designation as a New Jersey School of Character, which is an honor that it will hold for three years, also means that Lawrence Middle School will be recognized at the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional and Character Development conference March 18 at Rider University.
The Lawrence Middle School also has been invited to make a presentation on its “digital responsibility” initiative at the conference, Principal Mindy Milavsky said. It makes clear to students that whatever they put up on the Internet whether it is on Facebook or another social networking site becomes public and permanent.
While Ms. Milavsky is pleased that Lawrence Middle School has earned the state “school of character” designation, she is quick to point out that the groundwork has been laid by the district’s four elementary schools and the intermediate school all of whom have previously been named as state schools of character.
Two of the Lawrence schools the Lawrenceville Elementary School and the Eldridge Park School have been named National Schools of Character. Both schools enroll students in grades pre-K to 3rd grade.
To earn New Jersey School of Character status, a school must show that it has met the 11 principles of character education. The principles range from creating a caring community to providing opportunities for moral action, fostering students’ self-motivation and offering an academic curriculum that helps students to succeed.
At Lawrence Middle School, those principles are incorporated into the school’s culture through its Cardinal Code and its Reach for the Stars initiatives, which encourage students to “Be ready, be respectful and be responsible.”
Meeting the Cardinal Code means students are respectful to themselves and to others, and they respect others’ property. Being ready means being on time for class, having their materials at hand, being alert and participating in school and class to their fullest ability, Ms. Milavsky said.
Being responsible means communicating effectively, turning in class work, projects and homework assignments on time, and following all school rules. Following those guidelines means a student can be a “star” at Lawrence Middle School.
”We take the first two weeks of school to talk about our expectations for students to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and to wait in line in the cafeteria,” Ms. Milavsky said. “We tell them what a caring community is at Lawrence Middle School. We talk about arrival, dismissal and locker room etiquette.”
The students have taken those lessons with them and use them outside of school. They hold the door open for the next person, and they say “please” and “thank you,” she said, adding that they are kind and thoughtful toward other people.
”Ultimately, that’s what you want to hear about the students,” Ms. Milvavsky said.
The Cardinal Code also is integral to the concept of Lawrence Middle School “Nation,” which is how the school helps to create a caring community. Combined, the Cardinal Code and Lawrence Middle School Nation create a sense of unity throughout the 7th- and 8th-grade school.
Students are encouraged to rally behind a cause “moral action” where their actions make changes in the local and national community. They have collected jeans for teen-agers who cannot afford them through the “Jeans for Teens” initiative, and blankets for those who lack them through the “Kayla Cares if You’re Cold” initiative.
Rallying behind a cause also helps the students learn how to work as a team, Ms. Milavsky said. They need to learn how to work together because businesses want their employees to work in teams, she said, pointing out that “if you can’t get along with other people, you are not going to be very successful.”
It is not an easy task to find time to teach the students about character education what is kindness, what does it mean to be kind to others given the mandates handed down by the state Department of Education for day-to-day functions, Ms. Milavsky said.
Added to that is the turmoil of being an adolescent, she said. The 12- to 14-year-old students are trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be, and it is the school’s goal “to help them get there,” she said.
”It is a community here at Lawrence Middle School,” Ms. Milavsky said.

