Students at Commack Middle School are putting a new motto, "Respect, Responsibility, and Relationships" into action.
The motto is a new initiative by the Positive Behavioral Intervention Support (PBIS) Team, led by assistant principal Paul Schmelter, which encourages students to be kinder to their peers and those around them.
One of the school's initiatives, started by the Art Service Club, is to support the "Hospitality, Too," soup kitchen in Brentwood. Art teacher Grace Barrett designates six meetings a year for students to prepare hot meals that are donated to the soup kitchen. The food used to create the meals comes from donations from the students and staff.
The Leaders Club, under the direction of physical education teacher Theresa Bassett, allocates funds for the perishable items to be used in the meals such as cheeses for baked ziti and meat for frigadellas (a combination of meatballs and meatloaf). Family Consumer Science Teacher Angelina Napoli oversees the baking of seasonal cookies that are gift-wrapped and donated to the soup kitchen as well.
In addition to the hot food and cookies, each sixth grade team volunteered to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at one of the meetings this year. The first meeting netted 352 sandwiches.
The students and staff members involved with this project accept the responsibility of preparing the meals, cookies, and sandwiches because they know the value of helping people who need help.
Classroom teachers reinforce the school’s expectations for student behavior, as well. When a student is "caught" demonstrating respectful and responsible behaviors, the sighting teacher might mail a “Leading the Way” postcard to the student to acknowledge him/her for leading the way with positive behavior. Hundreds of these cards have already been mailed to Commack Middle School students.
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