Under the guiding principles of our districtwide initiative, the
Positivity Project, the #PositivityInAction mindset is our top priority. These past two weeks we focused on the character strengths of
SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE and
LOVE OF LEARNING.
People with the character strength of social intelligence are aware of other people’s thoughts and feelings. They understand why they do things.
Mrs. Turner, Counselor at Kennedy Middle School, is an expert at social intelligence. She is able to recognize and manage feelings appropriately by using words to set culture, making kindness a priority, and exhibiting empathy. Her office is a calm place where both students and staff are empowered to feel their feelings while being given the guidance for wise decision-making. Through her modeling, students are learning how-to advocate for themselves and manage and track their feelings.
KMS uses Clipper Check-ins as a way to monitor how students are doing. On average, over 439 students respond weekly to this optional, digital survey. They indicate their wellbeing through a color system: Red, yellow, green. On average, Mrs. Turner visits with 25 students who have requested a check-in. These check-ins gives students the opportunity to express their feelings.
The thing about Mrs. Turner is that she constantly sets lofty goals and achieves them because of her own high standards. She exclaimed. "I saw every 6th grader before our first set of conferences on October 14th!" This is a great way to make connections and build relationships, something she takes great pride in doing.
Speaking of building relationships, Mrs. Turner was excited to share a success story that can be described by the blue and white necklace she regularly wears, a gift from a current 6th grader. "This super rad student really opened up this year; The transition between 5th and 6th grades was tricky, but we have built trust, learned about each other, and now this student is thriving," she explained.
People with the character strength of love of learning master new topics on their own or in school.
William Knutson, a 6-year-old Kindergartener in Ms. O'Shee's class at Rodgers Elementary, has the uncanny ability to list every President of the United States. His favorite is the 16th President which is Abraham Lincoln, of course! A close second is George Washington which is why he dressed for Halloween as this commander in chief of the Continental Army.
He has memorized the year that they have been inaugurated, the year that they died, and many fun facts about them using books and PBS programming.
As an only child, William is surrounded by family love, people who encourage him to ask questions about everything and assist him in accessing those answers at home. Grandma Connie is a special person in his life who spends quality time with William, helping him grow in topics that he enjoys the most.
In additional to Presidential knowledge, William enjoys counting currency using mental math, reading, and maps. In fact, he is so interested in maps that he can rattle off the street names for his entire neighborhood.
Stacey Knutson, William's proud mom, explained that he loves school and his teachers. "He is approachable, outgoing, and caring." His teacher agrees. We are so lucky that he is a part of the Shorian Nation and excited to continue to follow him as he explores another passion.
Erin Tuladziecki, 5th grader at Violet Elementary, also has a love of learning. Her passion area is gymnastics.
Watch Erin's Level 6 State Champion Beam Routine. She qualified for the USA Gymnastics National Tops Testing.
This past October, she went to Indianapolis to test with 100 of the best 10-year-olds in the country for a chance to attend a camp with USA Gymnastics National Coaches.
In January, Erin took 1st place at the Winter Cup Classic in Mount Pleasant! She earned the best score for Level 7 with a 36.9.
Most recently, Erin finished in 1st place at the Tulip City Invitational!
Looking forward, our upcoming character strengths are SHOREY MASCOT (3/20-3/26) and HUMOR (3/27-4/2).
