Notes from Principal Dunham: Keeping It Positive

We all have two weeks left now to secure our Halloween costumes. Each year I wait later and later to lock in a final decision and each year my costume gets progressively worse. My goal right now is to finalize my costume prior to Wednesday, October 30^th so if you see me at Party City or Spirit at 4:30 PM on the 31^st please remind me that waiting until the last minute rarely pays off.

We are a full month into the Positivity Project at WGMS. We have had some terrific conversations and we have seen students stepping up and embracing the idea that ‘Other People Matter.’ I know that families are eager to partner with us in increasing your child’s character strengths and in helping them to continue to develop positive relationships. Each week I will provide an overview of our character trait of the week, as well as resources to help you reinforce what we are doing here at school.

This week our focus is on the character trait INTEGRITY. As a building we have been discussing what integrity is all about:

"INTEGRITY is choosing COURAGE over comfort, and choosing WHAT IS RIGHT over what is fun, fast or easy. It’s choosing to be a LEADER rather than being a follower. Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody’s watching and it’s knowing that nobody is going to know whether you did it or not. At the end of the day, no matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people and how you act

TELLS ALL."

INTEGRITY IS EVERYTHING!

Here is the link to the Positivity Project character card on integrity.

You can view the calendar of when we study each character trait by clicking here.

Students of the Month
Staying on the theme of positivity, we recognized our new ‘Students of the Month’ as we turned the calendar to October. We continue to have students, who through their actions and character, help to create a positive school environment. Choosing ‘Students of the Month’ isn’t about grades and athletic or musical prowess, it’s about demonstrating all of the qualities that we value and celebrate - exemplary work ethic, citizenship, character, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, optimism and/or leadership in creating a positive school environment.

This month we recognized 6th graders RJ Bartholomew, Samantha Bullock, Devin Dantuono, and Bella Vallely, 7th graders David Desko, Bridget Dunham, Joe Paoli and Nicole Vasilev, 8th graders Ryan Considine, Michael Herrington, Ella Thome, and Isabelle Wells. Well deserved and congratulations to all!