Columbus (WI) Middle School students spent the first day of school with their homeroom teachers working to establish procedures getting to know one another. The most important part of the day, however, was establishing our School-wide Agreement.
In the homerooms, teachers helped facilitate a discussion with students concerning classroom expectations. They discussed how they wanted to be treated. The process gave students ownership in the school expectations. From each homeroom, student representatives were elected to meet with other students at their grade level. In the afternoon, two representatives from each grade level met with Mr. Kurth, Ms. Meier, and Mr. Fisher, to combine the lists of expectations into the final agreement. It truly was a powerful discussion.
At the end of the day an assembly of the entire school was held in the gym to celebrate our first day, and to present the School-wide Agreement to the school. The student representatives presented the agreement and a video was played of the day’s activities. The following is what resulted from the students:
School-wide Agreement
At CMS, we…
- Care for and include others
- Always work hard to achieve our goals
- Respect everyone and everything
- Do the right thing
- Stay positive when things get tough
We are CARDS!!
School-wide agreement
Once the agreement was established, we displayed it throughout the building. It is visible in every classroom and hallway, in the cafeteria and the office, and it is displayed in a giant mural that all students and staff signed.
The School-wide Agreement is the foundation of CMS. We look to it as our guiding focus throughout the year. Thank you to CMS students and staff for their work!
As a winner of the AMLE Sights and Sounds of Middle Level contest, Columbus Middle School received professional resources from the AMLE store.