A new approach to doing what's right at Barnum Woods

A girl sat alone, reading a book, as two of her peers played the popular board game Operation a few feet away. As they played, they snickered and laughed about her, calling her a loser. The girl heard every word.
   
That emotionally damaging scenario, or something similar to it, is not uncommon among school-aged children, especially those who are the object of bullies.
   
Teachers and administrators at Barnum Woods Elementary School in East Meadow decided it was time to try a new approach to the problem. “We want the children to know we are not accepting that behavior,” said Assistant Principal Kelly O’Brien.

“They have to treat each other with respect.”
  
On Jan. 5, it was the teachers who were acting out the scenarios, including the one involving the lonely reader, with the students watching. The skits, involving staff members from all grades and departments, were presented to students in three age-grouped sessions.
  
Students in each workshop were divided into four groups that rotated among the skits. After each skit, the “actors” and students discussed the right way to deal with each situation.
   
“We tried to create situations that were everyday situations and to give them the opportunity to see what they look like from bird’s-eye perspective,” said Margaret Greenberg, a reading teacher. “Then we talked about the possible solutions, and hope to follow that through in the classrooms.”
   
In the scenario with the lonely reader, for example, the teachers and students discussed and play-acted ways to handle the situation properly. In one instance, the two girls playing Operation invited the other girl to join them.
   
While the skits elicited laughter, the students picked up serious life lessons. “It made them realize a lot of the situations actually happened to them during the school day,” O’Brien said. “If the teachers can show the children the situations that actually occur in the building, then we can address and target those situations that we are concerned about.”
   
The Barnum Woods School Character Education program was established in 1994 and has been held every year since. It focuses on developing students into caring citizens by building a caring school environment, in addition to implementing a code of behavior, preparing curricular resources and developing an overall community education program.
   
Students are introduced to the school program’s logo of a head, heart and hands. The head symbolizes the knowledge of what is right, the heart shows the need to care about what is right and the hands represent the importance of doing what is right.
   
Schoolwide expectations for students and staff include thinking before acting, the acceptance of responsibility for one’s actions, respecting oneself and others, preparing properly for each day and treating others with courtesy.
   
With bullying now a national topic of discussion, Principal Gregory Bottari stressed to his staff that it is crucial for schools to become a factor in shaping students into good citizens. “School is an important partner in the social development of our young people,” Bottari wrote to the staff. “The responsibility for teaching an understanding of right and wrong, respect and caring, and other core values is increasing every day. We accept that responsibility.”