Principal Jane Nadolski said students and staff have embraced the school’s new approach to character education, which now provides students in kindergarten through fifth grade with more opportunities to hone their writing skills and creates a connection between learning and community service.
Each month, Nadolski visits as many classrooms as she can and reads students a book that highlights the character education trait of the month. She calls it the Principal’s Book of the Month. Due to the generosity of McNamara’s PTA, every classroom has each book of the month in its library so that all students have easy access to the book should they wish to read it themselves or should the teacher wish to review it with the class.
“We’re one big book club at McNamara,” Nadolski said.
Every month students in all grades at McNamara are asked to create a response to that month’s featured book. Nadolski said responses have included essays, posters, charts and graphs. The purpose of the response is to have students use their critical thinking skills to evaluate the literature. Then students use their writing skills to interpret the story and make a connection between the literature and real life. This activity supports the district’s kindergarten through fifth-grade writing program while simultaneously reinforcing positive character traits.
The school displays student work on a dedicated bulletin board in the main lobby, as well as in the hallways outside classrooms and in the classrooms. Nadolski said that before the Principal’s Book of the Month, not all of the school’s classrooms had a connection to the character trait of the month the way they do this school year. Previously, a different grade level would be responsible each month for creating statements reflecting on the monthly character trait and sharing these during morning announcements to inform the school of the trait. With the Principal’s Book of the Month, all grades actively participate in the program.
“The whole school embraces the trait each month,” said Nadolski.
The character education program will soon extend beyond the school walls as McNamara’s character education committee develops and implements service learning projects for each grade level. The committee’s vision is to provide community service opportunities for each grade level by collaborating with agencies in Baldwinsville and the Syracuse area. The main goal of partnering with agencies is to connect community service to learning while filling unmet needs in the community.
Class projects for the agencies would require students to use their skills in planning, teamwork, math, writing, technology, social studies and critical thinking to serve community needs. For example, the second grade has partnered with the Golisano Children’s Hospital. Planned projects include decorating book bags for the children who attend school while in the hospital, as well as using computer and technology skills to create bookmarks for the children.
The character education traits that are highlighted each month at McNamara and in all of the district’s elementary schools are respect (September), responsibility (October), caring (November), citizenship (December), diversity (January), honesty and trustworthiness (February), justice and fairness (March), cooperation (April), self-discipline (May) and integrity (June).
Principal Jane Nadolski reads a book about diversity to kindergartners at McNamara Elementary School. Each month, Nadolski visits as many classrooms as she can and reads a book that reflects the school’s character education trait of the month.
