By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The Lawrenceville Elementary School has joined the ranks of an elite group of public and private schools that have been named as a National School of Character for 2012 by the Character Education Partnership.
Schools that have been designated as a National School of Character hold the distinction for five years. The Lawrenceville Elementary School is one of 20 public schools, three private schools, one charter school and one public school district nationwide to receive the designation for 2012.
The elementary school, which is located on Craven Lane, is the second school in the Lawrence Township Public School District to earn the national honor. The Eldridge Park School on Lawn Park Avenue received the same award last year.
The school will be honored at the National Forum on Character Education, which will be held in November in Washington, D.C. School officials will pick up a National School of Character banner and a check for $1,000.
Principal Judy Bronston said she was proud of the award, adding that “this recognition belongs to everyone, and that’s what feels good about it.” She was referring to the students, staff and faculty of the grades pre-K to 3 school.
The award is the culmination of five years of work toward achieving the national honor, school counselor Kathy Jensen said. The process began with an application to be named a New Jersey State School of Character, which is a designation that Lawrenceville Elementary School earned in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Once a school is named a State School of Character by the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional and Character Development, an application to be named a National School of Character may be sent on to the Character Education Partnership.
Each year, the Character Education Partnership selects schools and districts that demonstrate that their focus on character development has had a positive impact on academic achievement, student behavior and school climate. Selected schools are then expected to serve as models for other schools, helping them to achieve the same results.
”We wanted to prove that our character education program is the best that it can be,” Ms. Jensen said. The school began its character education program which rests on the principles of seven pillars of character respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, trustworthiness, fairness and self-control in 2002.
Ms. Bronston said the students live those traits every day.
It begins in the morning, when classroom teachers greet their students and the students greet each other, Ms. Jensen said. It is important for children to feel welcome, safe and secure, she said. They need to feel that they are entering a caring community, she added.
Instilling the character trait of self-control is accomplished through the Manners Magnet program, Ms. Jensen said. Students learn that others are attracted to people who show good manners. There is a Manners Magnet “thought of the day” each morning, which is discussed during the classroom morning meeting.
The school’s garden also plays a role in teaching the children how to be good and caring citizens. It teaches them that they are the stewards of the environment, Ms. Bronston said. They learn how to create compost material and to apply mulch to the garden.
The students plant seeds and then harvest the crop, she said. They took some of the vegetables to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, which used it as part of the lunchtime meal for the patrons. The children learned that they could eat some of the produce, but they also should donate to others who are needy, she said.
”You care about yourself, you care about other people and you care about the environment. That’s where the garden comes in,” Ms. Bronston said. The students learn to work with each other and to give to other people.
The school also holds monthly “Awesome Assemblies,” which allow students to celebrate their service learning projects, Ms. Jensen said. One of the popular service learning projects is the Thanksgiving food drive. The children also visit nursing homes in February for Valentine’s Day.
They also collect soccer balls, toothbrushes and T-shirts to be sent along with the Operation Smile Club at Lawrence High School, when it visits Kenya to help doctors who perform surgery on children who have cleft palates and other facial deformities.
”We would have the same programs, whether there is an award or not,” Ms. Bronston said. “This is an affirmation that we are going in the right direction. It gives us a forum to share ideas with others and to let people see what we are doing.”
