Making Amends...

“It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them.  To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character.” ~Dale Turner

Lunch at Eagle Ridge Academy is a social time for students, but as you can imagine (if you’ve never experienced it for yourself) lunch with 138 students can become quite an occasion.  Students can sometimes get a bit too loud in the Commons at lunch.  Our lunchroom monitors do a nice job of keeping the volume at an acceptable level, but some days the students make choices that are not the best regarding their voices and how they respond to the supervisors at lunch. 

Last week was one of those noisy days during fourth grade lunch.  It seems the students were not making choices to be the best versions of themselves and were not affording the lunchroom supervisors with respect.  When they were called on their non-Pillar behavior they were also asked to reflect and make amends with the lunch staff. After reflecting on their own behavior and the jobs of the lunchroom staff, many of the students wrote letters to the staff in apology for their behavior that particular day.  What impresses me most about these letters is that they just aren’t the usual “I’m sorry for what I did letters.”  They own up to their own behavior, yet they are also showing appreciation for the lunchroom staff and you can even see some personal relationships in them. Making mistakes is a normal part of life, but truly making amends is the most important part of any mistake.  I appreciate how the Eagle Ridge Academy staff is teaching our students ways to do just that! You can see a few of the letters below, and if you visit the Commons they are all posted on the bulletin board by the water fountains.

Speaking of lunch…if you come to have lunch with your chlld, please do not have other children come and sit with you.  Students should not have friends join them with their parents for lunch because it does create hurt feelings for those that cannot.  Teachers then have to deal with the aftermath of those hurt feelings in the classroom in the afternoon.  Having lunch with your child can be a special time just for you!

Next week are parent/teacher conferences.  Please make sure you are signed up before the conference scheduler closes at 11:00pm on October 8^th.  There will be a Scholastic Book Fair sponsored by the PTO in the Commons on both conference days (October 12^th and 13^th).  Funds raised will be saved to help supply books in our new library in 2016-17. 

Have a wonderful week and lovely fall break!

Mrs. Baier