Once a month the students and staff at Hayes Leonard Elementary School gather in the gymnasium for the monthly CASS (Creating A Safe School) meeting to discuss ways to work together to create a safe, non-threatening environment in the school. Teacher Traci Coil was one of this month's organizers and the CASS representative who plans out the lessons & meetings with the help of different teachers in different grades each month.
"Several years ago, as a district, we moved forward with CASS. It started with the middle schools and trickled down to the elementary schools. We had a meeting with a couple parents, Mr. Eichelberg, principal of Hayes Leonard, and myself and discussed how we could implement CASS more than just through the lessons taught at each grade level," Traci said.
This month the topic of discussion was "Keeping A Positive Attitude."
First Principal Eichelberg had all "Good Citizens" (kids noticed to be kind and helpful that month) stand up to be praised for what they did and then the 2nd grade teachers showed a couple videos to the school showcasing kids being a "Negative Nelly" or "Negative Ned" which are kids having a negative attitude towards fellow students. The kids then marched into their classroom to talk about different ways to keep a positive attitude when difficult things happen to them in their lives and when other students may be trying to bring them down.
"They've responded really well. They're trying to do things that are treating people better. We're all talking the same language as far as no put downs, being kind to other people, treating people right and doing the right thing. They're realizing they need to treat each other better."