Schools

School Fosters Positivity One Drop at a Time

Van Holten students are filling their buckets with positivity toward others.

They are trying to create a positive culture, and, for students at , it is all about filling their bucket.

Principal George Rauh, with guidance counselor Staci Miller, spoke before the board of education Jan. 24 about a program he has implemented for the students as modeled after the children’s book, “How Full Is Your Bucket?”

The book, Rauh said, focuses on how the bucket is filled when people act positively or in some way help someone else. The water is poured out when a person does something negative against another.

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“I use this book to be proactive and create a school with a positive culture,” he said.

According to Rauh, he had read an adult version of the book several years ago, and later connected it to a program he did with the students concerning positive energy and how that creates a positive culture.

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“I thought it would be great to build off that concept to make a positive impact for ourselves and others,” he said.

But the work to create a positive culture didn’t stop there.

Rauh said that before he found the children’s version of “How Full Is Your Bucket?”, he began instigating different activities in the school, putting challenges out to students and staff.

“We said to take this theme, and take it home with you to your spouse, children, families to see if it makes a positive difference in all aspects of your life,” he said. “We had feedback from teachers and students and it was all very good, and it created a positive culture in the school.”

And when Gov. Chris Christie signed the new harassment, intimidation and bullying law, Rauh said, the school continued to move forward with its goals.

In January 2011, Rauh said, he attended an in-service about creating a positive culture, and figuring out how to create a respectful environment.

“You have to be proactive, not reactive,” he said. “We don’t want to wait for bullying, we have to do things to prevent it.”

Rauh said he brought this back to the other teachers, and soon found a book called “One” by Kathryn Otoshi. The book, he said, is about how one person can make a difference among bullies.

Once he had the book, Rauh said, he had teachers send it home with students, one at a time, to read with their parents.

“We did this to bring literacy into the home,” he said, explaining that students had the opportunity to read the book with their parents and discuss the benefits of the positive culture.

“We got great feedback about opening a dialogue with children, and we did find out about situations of bullying,” he added. “It allowed us to be proactive to help children whether they were being bullied or being the bully.”

And from there, Rauh said, he found out about the children’s version of “How Full Is Your Bucket,” which brings about character education through the story of a young boy finding his bucket emptying as he bullies others and receives negative feedback from family and friends. But when he changes his attitude and hears positive comments from others, his bucket begins to fill again.

Students took the opportunity to read the book to the board of education members, and provided them with their own special buckets to fill with positivity toward themselves and others.

“We want to work on how you can make a positive impact on classmates and the environment,” Rauh said.

And the students said that this new culture has changed the school itself, with kids being kinder to each other by including everyone in games at recess, and just being more positive as a whole.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder said this kind of thing is one of the main points of the new harassment, intimidation and bullying law.

“The law wasn’t intended just to catch bullies and protect victims,” he said. “It was to perpetuate a culture of respect and understanding so hopefully these issues disappear.”


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