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Park Hill Elementary promotes character traits at Care Fair
By ELDON KLEIN/The Valley Chronicle
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BUILDING CHARACTER: Students and teachers gather to listen to members of the San Jacinto Lions Club at the Care Fair at Park Hill Elementary School in San Jacinto.
ELDON KLEIN / The Valley Chronicle
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A Care Fair this week at Park Hill Elementary School in San Jacinto aimed to get students into the spirit of sharing.
The fair - which featured organizations describing to students how they help the community - is part of Park Hill's focus on building positive character traits in students.
For May, they are focusing on caring, giving, and sharing.
The Park Hill Character Squad, a group of teachers who plan the monthly events, held the fair in the quad area for students of all grade levels.
Marcy Godlew, fifth-grade teacher and member of the squad, said of the Care Fair: “The goal is to show children that there are people around them that give back to the community.”
She said this is the first year of character education.
“The other character traits being taught in the program are respect, responsibility, leadership initiative and teamwork, trustworthiness, and justice and fairness,” she said.
Organizations participating in the Care Fair included Living Free, a no-kill animal shelter; the San Jacinto Lions Club; Home Instead, which provides in-home care for the elderly; San Jacinto High School JROTC; and Fire Station 25.
Injury Prevention Services, whose goal is to inform parents and children about safety, donated 50 bicycle helmets to students at Park Hill.
Representatives of the organizations set up tables with literature about what they do. Children sat as a group in front of each table as the representatives explained their duties and how they help the public.
Fifth-grader Jasmine Rowland said she liked the Care Fair.
“I feel pretty good about this because it feels good to help people in need instead of thinking about yourself all the time.”
Madeline Sanchez, also in the fifth grade, said, “I think it is really good that these people come and show us how they care. I think it is cool of them to show us how respectful they are and to do those things for us.”
Another fifth grader, David Garcia, expressed appreciation for the firefighters.
“I think it is nice to learn about firefighters and how they help people. We learned about the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a bike or a skateboard.”
In addition to the fair, the students also have been given a challenge to emphasize giving and sharing.
“The challenge for this month is to see which class can collect the most canned goods for the Community Pantry in San Jacinto,” Godlew said.
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