Memorial School Students Have Character

The Character Under Construction Club may be in its first year, but it has already drawn much student interest.  The club teaches both positive social and emotional qualities, with the purpose of building student self-esteem, coping and leadership skills.

The idea formed when school social worker, Megan Hanson and Memorial’s art teacher, Carol Friel started collaborating their ideas for a new club.  Ms. Hanson said, “We wanted a way to teach students how to grow into positive role models while using different media (music, drawing, role-playing, etc.).  We thought it could create interest in our students if we formed a club based around both art and character traits. So together we came up with the Character Under Construction club.”

The club has a large number of participants, and meets every Wednesday after school.  The club runs from November thru February and is open to all students in grades 1-5.

Mrs. Friel said, “We absolutely love and value this club. Every two weeks we introduce a new positive character trait to focus on. We talk about how we feel about it, what it looks like and how we can promote it outside of our club. At the end of the time period we make a clay bead to symbolize the trait we learned. By the time the club finishes in February the students will use their handmade beads to make a key chain or bracelet.” 

Student feedback from participating students has been overwhelmingly positive.  Mikayla, a 4th grader at Memorial said, “Character Under Construction teaches students about being courageous and being brave. I think this club can teach you to be a better person.”   Owen, a 3rd grader, said, “The best part about Character Under Construction is the spider web we made.”

For more information this, or other Memorial School clubs, please contact your student’s teacher.