Character Counts essays cap LES Red Ribbon Week

By: 
David Peck

Students, staff and faculty at Lovell Elementary School recently celebrated Red Ribbon Week with a series of programs aimed at educating students about making healthy choices.

The theme this year for the week of activities – October 28-31 – was “Life is a Movie, Film Drug Free,” and besides the educational component in the form of special lessons, students were asked to dress up each day in a special way: as a favorite movie star for the theme, like a baby for Born to be Drug Free Day, as the students’ future self for Drug Free Future Day and in a Halloween costume for Scare Drugs Away Day.

Tips given to parents during the week included using Red Ribbon Week as an opportunity to continue talking to their children about drugs and letting them know that drug use will not be tolerated in the home, watch together Natural High’s (naturalhigh.org) free celebrity drug prevention videos with their children and getting to know the parents of their kids’ friends.

According to information presented by the school, “Children of parents who talk to their teens regularly about drugs are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than those who don’t, and yet only one quarter of teens report having these conversations.”

One of the primary components of Red Ribbon Week is each student writing a Character Counts essay during the week based on Bulldog Pride: Purpose, Respect, Integrity, Determination and Empathy. School counselor Brian May said each classroom teacher encouraged the students to write on various character traits, then chose one essay as the top essay from the class.

Winners were:

Fifth grade – Mali Garza, Kenzi Click and Piper Marchant; fourth grade – Johnny Allen, Thayne Walker and Lily Huish; third grade – Elise Baird, Emily Averett and Ellis Miller; second grade – Jax Anderson, Daniel Henderson and Sophia Wheeler; first grade – Connor Grant, Jovie Lohof and Sydney Stumpp; and kindergarten – Emery Schmidt, Chanelle Grant, Trey Asay and Kash Winterholler.

The winners were honored on Monday, Nov. 4.

Here’s a sample of some of the ideas contained in the essays:

Kenzi Click regarding respect – “You should always be kind in your words and in your actions. … Always say please and thank you and use other manners.” Regarding empathy – “One of the main things of empathy is to understand other people’s feelings. … There are many different ways to show compassion. Always encourage others, talk them through it and tell them they did good.” Regarding the golden rule – “Treat others how you want to be treated. … You should be nice to your friends, because you could lose them.”

 Mali Garza – “No one wants someone to be cruel. If someone disagrees with you, still be respectful to them. You are perfect just the way you are. Always be patient, do not be rude and tell others to hurry up because you’re impatient. … Always have empathy, too. If you have empathy, people will like you and even play with you.

“If you see someone bullying another person, you should always report it to a teacher or a parent and stand up for them. … Be kind to others like how you want to be treated.”

Johnny Allen – “Empathy is understanding other people’s feelings. It will help you make friends at school. For example, if someone lost their dog, I should be able to see how they feel and know how to react. … Invite someone to play with you if their face is looking long or they are alone.”

Lily Huish – “The way people show empathy is you can put yourself in another person’s shoes. This means thinking, ‘Have you felt their feelings?’”

Thayne Walker – “My character trait is about being helpful. To help the janitor you can pick up trash for them or you can wipe the table off at lunch. You cannot make a mess in the bathroom for the janitor.”

Emily Averett – “Being a good person is being honest and being nice to people that have no money at all.”

Elise Baird – “It is important to have good character. If is important to respect our community. It is also good to respect our friends, teachers, family and ourselves. We respect the things and people around us.”

Ellis Miller – I love helping people, especially my friends, and I love standing up for people. I really show Bulldog pride!”

Sophia Wheeler – “One day I was at recess, and I saw someone that was lonely. I went to them and said, ‘Do you want to play with me?’ They said yes.”

Daniel Henderson – “I do my best effort and stay focused while I am doing my work. I show compassion and encourage others.”

Jax Anderson – “I can show good character by playing fair in football. I can make teams fair. I can’t cheat in football. If someone is left out, I can ask him to play.”

Jovie Lohof – “I can show good character by being kind and playing with somebody who has nobody to play with.”

Sydney Stumpp – “I showed good character because I stopped a kid from getting bullied.”

Connor Grant – “I show good character by helping and sharing with others.”

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