Marcellus Central School District, “Where Character Counts” and “Service Learning” Rules

The 2009-2010 school year in the Marcellus Central School District brought with it a very special district-wide service learning initiative. The district expanded the concept of “service learning” to become of component of the required English portfolio program at grades 7-12. All grade 7-12 students had the opportunity to participate in a variety of community service activities and reflect on their experience in writing through their English portfolios. The emphasis on school district community service initiatives expanded to include both caring and learning. This new service learning focus was clearly reflected in the Driver Middle School (DMS) Service Learning Day experience during the spring of 2010. DMS 7th and 8th grade students had the opportunity to spend a day volunteering at a community organization: 7th grade students working at local Marcellus agencies while 8th grade students visited community organizations in the greater Syracuse areas. The service learning initiative will continue during the 2010-2011 school year and exemplifies the instructional focus of Marcellus Central School District character education efforts.

Character education has always been at the forefront of the Marcellus Central School District’s instructional program. School mottos articulate a positive school message at all levels. Heffernan Elementary School’s “we will not hurt anyone on the inside or the outside” folds into Driver Middle School’s “safe and comfortable environment” which folds into the high school’s “integrity, tenacity, and community”. The Marcellus Senior High School Character Education Committee has established positive school environment traditions such as “Coffee House Nights” and the “Mustang Awards” while the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) organization has sponsored a variety of school-wide activities designed to facilitate community involvement and quality decision making.

At Driver Middle School, Principal Michael Dardaris and Assistant Principal Janet O’Mara meet with all classrooms throughout the first two weeks of school focusing student awareness on school-wide expectations and emphasizing the need to care for each other. Driver Middle School is also building on a school-wide theme of “Challenge yourself with a healthy risk”. DMS character building activities for the 2010-2011 school year include:
• Mustang Pride Events
• Word of the Month
• Motto of the Week
• Student of the Month
• Daily Announcement
• Service Learning Day

The monthly “all school meeting” at K.C. Heffernan highlights the character trait of the month while individual classrooms are spotlighted weekly. Charitable initiatives facilitated by Marcellus Schools’ students and staff contributed more than $20,000 to organizations such as the Marcellus Food Pantry, the Jan Smith fund, the Syracuse Rescue Mission, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Catholic Charities, Project Linus, the Salvation Army, the Ronald McDonald House, St. Francis House, Camp Good Days and Special People, and the Samaritan Center. Additionally, individual student “senior projects” generate dozens of charitable/community involvement initiatives on a yearly basis.

Finally, the entire Marcellus Schools’ educational community focuses on monthly character traits which are listed below:
• September “Respect for Others’
• October “ Respect for Self”
• November “Responsibility”
• December “Caring”
• January “Ambition”
• February “Honesty”
• March “Fairness”
• April “Determination”
• May “Citizenship”
• June “Marcellus…Where Character Counts”