Staff and students are currently participating in different school wide initiatives to promote positivity daily. Programs include The Love Your People Program run by the Metea English department, and the 30 Day Integrity Challenge, which is coming to a close.
Every year, the English department decides on a motto to model the year. A past year’s theme was focused around Growth Mindset regarding school life. This year, the department wanted to make a stride in a different direction by focusing on how the building communicates, while still building off the past years’ messages. English department head Diane Tancredi encourages the importance behind the Love Your People program.
“This is what’s needed for a team to work well together, not only you as students, but also us as faculty,” Tancredi said.
The program embodies having mutual love and respect for one another as a Metea community. “Love isn’t kittens, puppy dogs, gushyness and all that. Sometimes it’s being honest, [doing] hard work or having difficult conversations because you care so deeply. That’s love,” Tancredi said.
The English teachers were seen sporting their Love Your People shirts in support of the program, as they are excited to incorporate the ideas of the initiative into the classroom atmosphere. “We value our relationships and we want to get better at what we are doing for you so that you can do better at what you are doing and be more prepared for whatever future you’re going to move to,” Tancredi said.
English students and staff took it on themselves to bring the “love your people” idea into casual discussion and teaching daily.
“It’s fun, but it’s also so healthy to get people’s attention again by something positive,” Tancredi said.
Similarly, the 30 Day Integrity Challenge promotes positivity as it focuses on the Live with Integrity aspect of the LIFE statement.
“Last year at the end of the year we found that we had some kids that were doing some things that weren’t really examples of integrity and so we wanted to start the year off with the words that are already on the wall,” principal and challenge spokesman Darrell Echols said.
As many know, the program entails students and staff members to create goals for themselves and hold themselves to their goal for thirty days. Echols held himself to a high standard as he worked towards his own integrity rooted goals.
“My challenge was to be nice and respectful to our assistant principals and to be at work everyday, which I have, and to just be positive,” Echols said.
With the challenge coming to a close, many have found structure in achieving their small goals of integrity each day.
“All of us as individuals have different things that stick out and have meaning to us; it’s really powerful to see,” Dean and organizer of the challenge Jennifer Rowe said.
Rowe noticed a great difference the program has made in Metea in the short time it has been in place. “Overall, I can say that our attitude as a building has been worlds apart from where we were last year. So far the kids have been phenomenal this year,” Rowe said.
Echols and Rowe remain positive that students will continue living with integrity and they look forward to future initiatives focused around other Metea LIFE statements. “If this has made a difference, we are doing awesome,” Rowe added.
