There’s a movement happening at Rochester Memorial School and it all boils down to five words, five principles: cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
RMS C.A.R.E.S. is the new motto at the school, and on January 26 fourth grade students spread the word on a grand scale through music and drama during a show appropriately entitled, “RMS C.A.R.E.S., A Celebration of Positive Character.”
“We are the ones who build our character,” students on the stage declared. “Each of us has the power to think…” The power to create who we are, what we do, and what we will become.
“I build my character, I am the architect!”
Each class took turns presenting one of the letters of the C.A.R.E.S. acronym, with short films made by the students punctuating each part of the show.
Positive messages abounded, and the students in the audience – especially the wee ones up front – responded with smiles, applause, and their undivided attention.
“Every time we do something, we make a difference.”
“Making a difference is something everyone can do.”
The messages of integrity and respect echoed throughout the cafetorium in song and in action – even with a little bit of break dancing and while busting a move.
With cooperation, working together, the students exclaimed that anything could be accomplished when you join in unity with others.
Assertiveness is key when it comes to standing up for yourself and others, sang the students.
Being responsible, the students showed, is knowing what to do and doing it right away, helping to make the world a better place; owning up to your mistakes and accepting the consequences to our actions; fairness, honesty, respect, compassion, and humility.
Empathy, showing care through kind words and understanding the feelings of others, said the students, is the change that starts with you.
Self-control in the most challenging of situations, whether on the bus, at all-school meetings, and during performances, as the RMS crowd showed, is the foundation to respect of others and ourselves.
The fourth-graders also put on a performance in the evening for parents and friends under the direction of Ms. Audette.
By Jean Perry
