Welcoming Schools:
Seal of Excellence
5
Congrats on recieving Welcoming Schools Seal of
Excellence Award. How did you school earn this
honor?
Thank you very much. We would not have recieved
this award had it not been for the leadership of both
our principal, Cindy Dean, and assistant principal,
Joan Rosa. Our plan was actually pretty simple. First,
I included the Welcoming Schools material in all of
my guidance lessons. Then we designed four quarterly activities. These activities were developed in order
to celebrate diversity of our families. Additionally,
we were asked to make a list of why Mirror Lake is
a "welcoming school." The list was quite long and
helped us to realize that many of the concepts taught
in the program were already a part of our school culture. Finallly, we put the Welcoming Schools lessons
in our School Improvement Plan. In January, they
asked us to come and share what we had been doiing.
After we presented, they seemed to be very interested
in what we do and eventually invited us to a ceremony to receive the award.
Left: Media Center contains a variety of books
focused on diversity
(see examples in the
slideshow)
Right: Proud guidance
counselor Gigi McIntyre
next to Welcoming
Schools Seal of
Excellence.
What advice would you give to a school counselor
or teacher who would like to bring programs like
Welcoming Schools to their campus?
Start small. Pick a grade level or team that wants to
try it out. Select a book to focus on with the students.
Story time is a chance for students from diverse families to see themselves. Think about what you already
do at your school and improve upon it.
It seems like this has been an excellent year for Mirror Lake Elementary. What's next?
I would like to bring more families on board. We
would like to find ways to bring the Welcoming
Schools message into the home. Our school plans on
having more resources for our families to spread this
positive message.
Visit Mirror Lake Elementary's exclusive website
(click on "website" to be redirected)
to learn more about their success as a Welcoming
School
Click on the video above to watch:
Trailer for the new Welcoming Schools
(www.welcomingschools.org) professional development film
for educators and parents.
Visit the Welcoming Schools website for lesson
plans, resources, and more!