A Caring Community Comes Together

This past Friday, we kicked off Character Counts Week at Dryden. Each day, we review a pillar of character. Students are invited to wear the color of the featured pillar.

Even our school mascot, Echo the Dolphin, dresses up! Echo wore green for the character pillar of RESPONSIBILITY.  Do you see the big green tree behind Echo? It will be interesting to see how the tree "grows" over the week as we learn more about how "Character Counts". 

Last week was also Digital Citizenship Week. As we think about the character pillar of RESPONSIBILITY, we can think about what it means to be a responsible digital citizen.  LMC Director, Mrs. O'Kelly, and Technology Facilitator, Mrs. Frantzen, teamed up to bring a powerful message to students.

 

Mrs. Frantzen and Mrs. O'Kelly have been using resources from Common Sense Media to help our young students remember to demonstrate good digital citizenship. 

The song in this video helps young children remember to...

THINK (with their head) to remember to keep your personal information private

FEEL (with their heart) to be kind, respectful and fair 

BALANCE (with their arms) tech time and unplugging

TRUST (with their gut) to stay away and tell a trusted adult if they find something inappropriate

STAND UP (with their legs) against cyberbullying  

Common Sense Media's website contains a summary of the updated guidelines regarding screen time for children from the American Association of Pediatricians. There are also many other resources for parents at this site that you may find helpful. 

We were jumping for joy at the PTA Just Jump fundraiser this past Friday! It was amazing to see the donations pouring in from the school community throughout the week. We have just about reached our goal! This fundraiser makes many special activities like Running Club, Birthday Books, Rollerskating Party, assemblies, author visits, and book clubs possible for our students. 

We greatly appreciate PE teacher Mr. Gries' leadership in preparing the students and overseeing their participation throughout this special event. 

What better day to have a jump rope fundraiser than on Make a Difference Day?  Friday was also Make a Difference Day. We were so excited to have staff from the Dunton Administration Center visit Dryden and lend us a helping hand. 

 

 

We had wonderful assistance with supervising recess and lunch, and reading to our kindergarten students! We are truly fortunate to have a caring community that comes together. Such a caring community certainly makes a difference in our students' lives!