Linden Avenue School

“Where Excellence Begins” Joseph A. Caravela

Principal

September 2015

Paws Up for Respect

(A School-wide Character Education Program)

Paws Up for Respect is a school-wide character education program developed by the Principal and implemented by the classroom teachers. The purpose is to recognize positive behaviors in students who go out on a limb to perform random acts of kindness to others. The positive culture and school spirit at Linden Avenue is enhanced through this program.

Mission/Purpose Addressed

The major goal of the Linden Avenue Elementary School is to provide all students with a love of learning in a stimulating, caring, safe educational setting which will ensure that each child meets his/her fullest potential. The character education program is designed to promote positive choices, personal responsibility, self-worth, compassion, and honesty. By reacting to each other in a positive way, students’ self-esteem is increased.

Plan of Action

“Paws-Up for Respect” was kicked off in the Opening Day of School Assembly.

The paw is the symbol for a Lion’s hand (the Linden Lion’s hand). Like a hand, the paw has five fingers each representing an element of respect.

Respect:

Your Self

Your Teachers

Your Classmates

Your Parents

Your School

By raising our paws for respect, we are making Linden Avenue a better place to come to school. Students shoe their respect by doing a good deed for a classmate or teacher in school. The deeds are random and unexpected.

Some of these may be:

Making a new friend

Playing with someone alone on the playground

Sitting with someone new in the lunch room

Helping someone with a project

Helping the teacher without being asked

Sharing materials when working in a group

Helping others in class

Helping to clean up or get out materials

Reading to a classmate

Helping a classmate with his or her work.

Students will be recognized by the teachers for doing these and other deeds (they may not tell the teacher, “I just held the door open for the class”). When a child performs a random act of kindness, his or her name is recorded. When each child in a class performs a random act of kindness, the class gets a token reward from the principal. In this way, the entire class gets recognized for achieving the goal. Students have gotten lion key chains, felt bookmarks, and other small tokens. This year, the children simply get their name written on a paw print with the random act of kindness that they’ve done. It’s hung on a bulletin board outside of the principal’s office. Children love to walk by to see their “Paws Up” paw print.

Summary

Paws Up! For Respect was created to recognize (without prompting) each individual child at Linden Avenue School for performing a good deed for another. Promoting positive behaviors is contagious; doing good deeds for others rapidly spreads resulting in a positive classroom and school climate. In turn, individuals feel better about themselves. As Samuel Goldwyn said, “When someone does something good, applaud. You will make two people happy.”