CHARACTERCOUNTS!
at Frank P. Long Intermediate School

Students and staff are very excited to share the wonderful character building activities we have done in recent months.  Each month, a pillar is highlighted and the building CC! committee coordinates an activity for that pillar.  In September we highlighted “Responsibility”.  Students showed responsibility by bringing in their gym clothes for P.E.  Classes who showed 100% participation earned a golden sneaker award and had their photo taken which was then displayed on our CHARACTER COUNTS! bulletin board.  “Trustworthiness” was emphasized in October.  Students entered a contest to write the school’s new motto which would also be featured in a school song written by our music teacher, Mrs. Pearce.  Judges selected the top ten entries and those students had their photo taken to be displayed on the bulletin board.  The winning entry was written by Emily DeSantis: “Its okay to listen to others voices but be sure to make your own good choices!”

In November, we conducted a food drive for two local food pantries to demonstrate “Citizenship”.  Classes worked as a team to bring in food.  Each class tallied the amount of food brought in and winners were determined by percentage of participation depending on their class size.  Winning classes had their pictures taken for the bulletin board.

December’s pillar was “Respect”.  At 2pm on December 16^th, the entire school building stopped to listen to a reading of “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Dr. Dabrusky and Mrs. Gurney.  Teachers had books and Power Point presentations for the students to view as the administrators read.  Following the reading, teachers discussed with students about how to fill someone’s bucket by being respectful and caring.  Students wrote essays about a time when they filled someone’s bucket.  The CC! committee chose 10 winners whose essays and photos were displayed on the CHARACTER COUNTS! bulletin board in the main hall.

Aside from these building level activities, students and staff at Frank P. Long donated 460 lbs. of food to Long Island Cares during National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week, and participated in the Homecoming Parade, and the community photograph.