Pleasant Hills Middle School DAN COMO, PRINCIPAL
S
It’s All About Dignity and Respect at PHMS!
ince the beginning of the year, PHMS students have been participating in the Dignity and Respect
Campaign. The D&R Campaign originated as a workplace initiative to promote a culture of inclusion,
dignity, and respect at several corporations and has now turned into a large-scale movement that
includes community partners, schools, anti-bullying campaigns, and educational and awareness
groups. These are the guiding principles that help PHMS become an exceptional environment for our
students and staff. Mr. Derrick Turner, a former middle school teacher with 15 years of classroom experience,
is the Dignity and Respect Liaison for PHMS. He has been with the Dignity and Respect Campaign for two
years, and we are happy to have him with us at PHMS!
After comprehensive training on the program, Pleasant Hills Middle School teachers nominated a Dignity
and Respect Champion, one from each homeroom in all three grade levels. A champion is an individual who
not only believes that being treated with dignity is a basic human right and everyone deserves to be treated
with respect, but also models this. The teacher-nominated Student D&R Champions model and share the
30 Tips of Dignity and Respect and are pictured below. Our students also have a part in this campaign
by recognizing and nominating champions amongst their peers. The student champions are helping
to integrate the message among the student body by nominating 30 Champions from their peers. The
champions meet and work with Mr. Derrick Turner to ensure the message of treating people with respect is
occurring at every level throughout the building.
E
Dignity and Respect Interest Group
Serving Our Community
ach Wednesday after school, PHMS offers interest groups for all students. A new interest group, the
Dignity and Respect Interest Group, was started by sixth grade teachers, Mrs. Gambino and Mrs.
Fairhead. The group is comprised of students in grades 6-8 who place a high priority on helping
others within the community. They wanted to share our message of Dignity and Respect by
leading service projects to help those in need. The projects included:
● Organizing a sock drive for the Allegheny Department of Human Services.
● Creating rocks with inspirational messages to hide throughout the community.
(Thank you to Georges Supply Center for the donation.)
● Collecting and delivering Thanksgiving treats to local veterans at Veterans Place in Pittsburgh and
shipping 120 treat bags/ Christmas cards overseas to active service members in Germany.
● Donating treat bags to a local food kitchen to accompany their Thanksgiving Dinner.
The D&R group plans to continue with outreach projects in the future by donating supplies to a local
animal shelter and providing toiletry supplies for a women’s shelter. We are so proud of our students for
showing us firsthand how we can treat everyone with Dignity and Respect.
40 WEST JEFFERSON HILLS