John Dryden is an exceptional public school which is very important to us because we have been here for so long and we have so many fond memories and friends from this school.
We all respect each other very much. Respect is so important to our school, community and to our everyday lives because in life respecting others will allow you to be respected. Respect also ties in with our GOTCHA tickets. A “Gotcha ticket” is a ticket given to you when you are “caught” doing something positive, polite, helpful or respectful.
Other character traits we work on in our school and community are honesty, responsibility, optimism and empathy. Responsibility is a key ingredient to success. You must be responsible in everyday living, before you can truly be successful. Honesty plays a huge role in our school and community as well. It is valued by peers, teachers and parents because it is the foundation of all good people. If you are responsible for something, come clean about it because you will be honoured for your honesty. Your discipline probably won’t be as hard as it would have been if you tried to keep it inside and got caught.
We have a very strong school community council as well as a parent volunteers. We also provide our school for community use every night. Many students are involved with some type of extracurricular activity or sports teams because of the wide selection.
We interviewed students from different grades to find out what they think of John Dryden.
Gorgi Naumovski in Grade 7 says, “Our teachers are amazing and very encouraging. Everyone is respectful towards each other.”
Olivia Howe, Grade 6 says, “Our sports teams are very fun and competitive. Everyone is really nice and helpful.”
Cassidy Chislett, Grade 1 says, “School is very fun and it has interesting activities. All of the teachers are nice, especially Mrs. Whitehead. My friends are also really cool and can do neat things.”
We are very fortunate to be in such a caring and loving school like John Dryden. It is big and busy, but has that personal touch to it.
Rachel Deadman and Sarah Douglas are Grade 8 students at John Dryden Public School.
« Back Font Size: Virtues growing at John Dryden P.S.
Mar 7, 2008By: Melissa Mancini (Originally published Feb. 22, 2008)
WHITBY -- There’s a tree growing in the middle of John Dryden P.S.
It’s not a real tree -- it’s made of papier mache -- but it sprouts new leaves often. It’s part of the school’s character development initiative, a new part of the Ontario curriculum which say schools have directives to teach children lessons like empathy. When a teacher notices one of the school’s 700 students exemplifying honesty or whatever the trait of the month is, he or she is given a “got ya” ticket.
Students at the kindergarten to Grade 8 school who have been “caught” doing the right thing many times during the month write their names on a leaf and add it to the tree to help it grow.
It’s a project that started at the beginning of this school year and principal Rob Chamberlain thinks it is really helping the kids grasp the concepts.
“Our character education has gone from teacher-directed to student-directed,” he said. “Students are giving us the ideas on how to teach these concepts best.”
One student who has her leaf on the tree for respect is Grade 8 student Sarah Atteck. Sarah said her name graces the tree because she tries to be respectful to all her fellow students. She does this by saying hi to other students in the hall and making the effort to be friends with those she doesn’t know. Simple things can make a classmate’s day.
The tree is just one way the school is working to build a strong community.
“We celebrate diversity here,” said Mr. Chamberlain. “We are a multicultural school with students from a range of backgrounds from all corners of the globe.”
He said they encourage students to embrace their differences and the school works to celebrate religious holidays and learn about high-profile figures from different cultures.
The students also learn to find people to look up to outside of Hollywood stars. Surrounding the tree of good character traits are posters that older students have made of collages with pictures of politicians, activists and accomplished athletes.
Also pasted to the collages are traits each hero epitomizes, some of which are the same virtues that will land a student on the tree. The hallway serves as a constant reminder of the right thing to do.
And judging by the amount of leaves on the tree, it looks like students are understanding the lessons.
