It has been an exciting year at Bayless Elementary! Our school has been nominated, by Cooperating School District, as a Missouri State School of Character! This is a honor, considering that only a few schools were chosen out of the whole state of Missouri. We have also been chosen to have a site visit to be selected as a National School of Character. Our site visit will be April 23 & 24. As the counselor, I have been so proud of our students as they have demonstrated such growth in character and moral development! Our staff works hard at providing projects that will help to cultivate compassion, a sense of responsibility, and pride in each and every one of us in the building. We have had a great year!
Our "Home Bee Hive" activity that is part of the schools' Positive Behavior Support Program, has been a success since its implementation last year. Parents are given small "Bees" that they can use to report helpful actions and behaviors while in the home environment. The children love to see their parents involved in projects with school, especially when they are given recognition for learning something so important to their development.
Our small groups or, "Bee Buddies" were a great hit this year. These small group sessions are developed to emphasize friendship skills, help children in dealing with issues such as divorce or anger, and provide a safe place to talk about personal issues with kids who may be going through similar situations. The small groups need parental permission for joining. The groups ran every 6 weeks.
Red Ribbon week was a fun and exciting as well. It was recognized on October 27th and although our children are young, we will talked about healthy choices and how these guide our future and either help or hinder our success as we get older. We will be participating in activities all week long that emphasize healthy living.
The students were involved with service learning projects this year and we will be continuing our correspondence with the South African school that we sent gifts to last year. We hope to continue with Caring School Communities "Homesides " and monthly Character Education Homework for Families. Both of these are tools to facilitate growth and strength in families and to get families sharing character education and how it is so important in becoming hard workers and people who care about their world. We are trying to help parents cultivate our future generation to be conscience, ethical and strong citizens. We, along with the community, look toward success with our combined efforts in helping students become responsible and compassionate members of socitey.
Our year end "field day " , which was renamed Character Camp last year will be comming up soon! We will be having games, activities, songs, and fun filled events that center around character traits and actions. We will have a different theme each year, last year, we took on a western theme! This year,our theme, which is a spin off from our, Character Cruise, which orientated students to school expectations and behaviors, will take on a tropical feel! We will have a great time!
Many students love the events and festivities that are provided on the last day of school. Parents are welcome to come and help out with Character Camp! Last year was our first year and we had a great deal of positive feedback! Please come and see what fun and excitement there will be!
Parents who are in need of resources or assistance may reach me at my office phone at 256-8622. I am in the building from 8-3:30 daily. I will be happy to assist you in any way and I look forward to a great year with your children!
Bayless Elementary Character Words of the Month
August- Peace* living, working, and playing in harmony with others September- Respect* showing kindness with your hands, feet, body as well as with your words October-
Responsibility* -knowing what you need to do and doing your best at it November- Appreciation* being thankful December- Kindness* showing you care by using
manners and helping others January- Integrity* being honest and doing what is right, even when it is difficult February- Patience* waiting in a calm way and not complaining
March- Cooperation* working and playing together in a peaceful way April- Service* offering to help others May- Courage* doing the right thing even when scared June- Self-
Control * to stop,think, and make good choices July- Perseverance* staying with the task and not giving up
How to Get Involved In Character Education
- Participate in Monthly Character Education Homework with your child
- Engage in community projects that emphasize caring and global responsibility
- Complete "Homeside Activities" with your child and other family members
- Volunteer to be a stakeholder in our School/Community Taskforce
- Model character in the home , at school, and in your community
- Reflect on "teachable moments" in your own life with your child
