Values Count!

In a time when parents are worried about eroding values, I thought I would share a thank you that we received from a visitor to The Wilson School. It is gratifying to know that all our emphasis on emotional intelligence, community responsibility and values really does work!
A note of thanks for your students' honesty

2/2/09

Dear Mrs. Borlo:

My name is Jeannie Phillips and I am a parent of an 8th grader at The Peck School. Last week, our volleyball team visited The Wilson School to play volleyball. Your school graciously gave my family permission to bring our seeing-eye puppy to the game. It helped with his training and he enjoyed meeting several of your students.

When leaving the game, I apparently dropped $20 while fumbling for car keys, greeting my child after the game and organizing the puppy. Your students (I am not sure exactly who) recovered the money and gave it to another Peck parent, who assured its return to me. I wanted you to know of the honesty and character shown by your students.

Please share my gratitude with your students and take a moment to celebrate the great character of The Wilson School student body.

- Jeannie Phillips

Have a Great Day?

It has occurred to me that we may be doing our children a disservice when the primary advice that we give them each day is “Have a Great Day”. What concrete suggestions are we making in that comment?

Are we telling them to work hard, listen to their teachers, be a good friend, focus on their assignments, eat a healthy lunch? Or are we implying “have fun”? At the risk of coming across as a curmudgeon, it seems clear that we don’t have to emphasize the “have fun” part – kids naturally know how to do that, and teachers are in tune with making a lot of the school day “fun” in order to keep the attention of their classes and prevent learning from being painful. However, if we are to work together as a team, it might be more meaningful if parents would choose another slogan to impress on their school age child.

What is one directive you could give your children each morning that would help them live and learn each day with an enthusiasm, curiosity, respect and compassion that benefits not only themselves, but everyone they encounter?