The January focus for students at Bernice Vossbeck Elementary centers on respect. As part of the Character Strong curriculum the school has incorporated all year, each month brings a different emphasis on a character trait. For January, Character Strong promotes respect and Marianne Hollander\u2019s third-grade class has gone all in on respect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hollander\u2019s class has created a display to encompass different ways to look at diversity and honor differences, incorporating varying art forms, quotes and creative styles along the way. The project also ties in the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis display will be a representation of how we should love and respect ourselves and each other,\u201d Hollander says. \u201cRespect is simply \u2018seeing the good in people and treating them with care.\u2019 We live in a country with a diverse population of people. My hope is that in this display we will see how important it is to acknowledge, honor and respect our differences no matter what that may be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all students involved in the project, the students were prompted to pick a quote about respect that was meaningful to them and incorporate that into their personal art piece. The artwork represents their individuality and their chosen quote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, Hollander makes the hallway display after everything is finished, but in this case, partnering with parent volunteer Sarah Stewart, the class worked together to assemble the display. Hollander hopes this strategy of them helping create the finished design helps give the project a more lasting impression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want this next generation of kids to think about each other\u2019s differences as something that doesn\u2019t need to be seen or pointed out negatively, but respected, honored and celebrated,\u201d she says. \u201cI also want them to realize that those differences make our journey more interesting. They give us insight to new ideas and ways of thinking about things we fear.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hollander hopes that by incorporating quotes and art together, the project gives a foundation to showcase individual differences while celebrating each student\u2019s creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs parents and teachers, we want the students to sue their uniquely creative ideas and artistic diversity to communicate the oft-neglected but highly essential message of respect,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cIt\u2019s our goal to provide them with the vehicle necessary to display the results of their creative endeavors, but not to control or stifle their individual perspectives. It is often through the works and words of children that the world begins to understand what it is they have been struggling to grasp all along.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"