Running the school on the golden rule

By MIKE JAMES - The Independent

ASHLAND February 14, 2008 11:44 pm

— Five children, four girls and one boy, clustered around the front door, peering through the glass.
The moment a visitor climbed the steps from the street and started up the sidewalk to the entrance, they exploded into action.
Swinging the doors open, they smiled, waved and called, “Welcome to Hatcher!”
It was clear that greeting visitors and leading them to their lunch in the cafeteria was the most important thing in their lives.
Kayla Ryan, Brittany Guerrero, Kaitlyn Bellew, Tyler Crowe and Savannah Thomas are all in second grade at Hatcher Elementary. “We’re all in the same class and we’re all friends,” explained Savannah, as she conducted her guest down the hall.
The door-keeping task they were taking so seriously Thursday was part of the school’s annual Random Acts of Kindness Week.
During the week the kids at Hatcher have class activities, decorate hallways and meet in assemblies to celebrate the simple, old-fashioned virtues of being nice.
“I like it because when you’re nice to other people you make friends,” Savannah said.
Hatcher has been having the week-long observance for six years now, and it has morphed into an all-year focus on character, said school counselor Kevin Smith.
In the fall Hatcher has a manners luncheon and during the year classes have individual activities. Smith doesn’t have to push politeness; classes are coming up with their own projects.
Guests Thursday were Ashland Ministerial Association members, who sat at a head table in the cafeteria and were served by student waiters.
“They’re very outgoing children, very eager to help,” said Sharon McDonald, a chaplain at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital. She thinks elementary school is ideal for character education. “If you don’t teach values when they’re young, you’re wasting your breath when they’re 13,” she said.
“Anybody who complains about today’s kids hasn’t been here,” said Ike Nicholson, pastor of First Christian Church and president of the association. “I have not felt so honored in a long time.”
Smith hopes there has been a cumulative effect over the six years Hatcher has been sponsoring the observances. Some of today’s sixth-graders were among the first-graders who launched what has become part of the school’s culture.
Madyson Greene is one of them; she likes the kindness celebration. “People need to help people in need,” she said. She has learned not to be mean to other kids and make fun of them, she said.

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