Students take the lead at one local school
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Shrewsbury - When thinking about what principles a person should live by, there's a laundry list of words that come to mind: honesty, responsibility, respect, perseverance. They're words we've all heard before, but what do they really mean?

One school is leaving it up to their students to figure that out.

Every Sherwood Middle School student received the same homework assignment over winter break. Each was asked to take a moment and define what the school's four core values meant for them and ways they could incorporate them into their day to day lives.

The hundreds of answers received varied greatly in the examples of honesty, responsibility, respect and perseverance the kids gave, but all shared one common trait: a very real understanding of why these four values are necessary for the Sherwood community to function at its best.

"We have to try our best to do these things every day because it helps our school run more efficiently," sixthgrader Kathi Bi said.

When trying to decide how they could best define the four words that the school uses to define itself, some students looked to past experiences with people who chose to not live by them.

Sherwood Middle School students (l to r) Cara Caputo, Kathy Bi, Seth Audette, Eldridge D'Souza, Phillip Lo and Emily Cappucci talk about what Sherwood's core values mean to them. PHOTO/MELISSA MUNTZ

"I had a girl in my class who was always mean to me and I just don't want that to happen to anyone else," fifthgrader Emily Cappucci said. "It doesn't feel good at all to be treated badly."

For sixth-grader Cara Caputo, this problem can be solved by simply being respectful of someone else's feelings.

"You can let somebody else sit with you in lunch or join in a game at recess and [then] everybody is included, not just your friends," Caputo said.

Other students looked inward when defining the core values, using examples of when they acted outside of the values and hurt another person.

"I chose to write about honesty because one time I said something that wasn't true and another kid got in trouble for it. Actually it was my brother," sixth-grader Seth Audette said. "It just makes you feel better to know you told the truth."

And for others, following the values means one simple thing - treating others how you want to be treated.

"We're all diff erent and we have diff erent beliefs and learning paces, and it just doesn't feel good to make other people feel bad," fifthgrader Phillip Lo said.

The core values are about more than being responsible for how you treat others. They're also about acting responsibly toward yourself.

Making sure you get to class on time, having your homework done and being prepared for class were all used to define how the students could incorporate personal responsibility into their school day.

"We need to be respectful of the rules because they're meant to keep us safe," fifthgrader Eldridge D'Souza said. "Like if the rule is not to run in the hallways but you do anyway, the floor could be slippery and you could fall and get seriously injured."

Assistant Principals Ann Jones and Michelle Melick said they were amazed at just how easily the children were able to find examples of responsibility, respect, honesty and perseverance in their own lives.

By allowing children to decide what each value meant to each of them individually, they said students will be more likely to successfully live by them.

"We're able to go to a child and say, 'This is the issue, this is what we believe at Sherwood and this is the core value you're not meeting at this time,'" Melick said. "It's all trial and error at this age … but if they're working within the guidelines of our core values, they'll really be a productive member of the community."