STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Three Staten Island schools were among 55 schools throughout the city honored by the City Council and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina Tuesday for programs they have created to combat bullying, discrimination and harassment. Staten Island Technical High School, New Dorp, along with PS 20, Port Richmond, and PS 29, Castleton Corners, were designated as "Respect...
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Three Staten Island schools were among 55 schools throughout the city honored by the City Council and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina Tuesday for programs they have created to combat bullying, discrimination and harassment.
Staten Island Technical High School, New Dorp, along with PS 20, Port Richmond, and PS 29, Castleton Corners, were designated as "Respect for All" schools, as part of the Department of Education's initiative to help foster tolerance and respect among students.
"We have one of the most diverse student populations in the world and it is vitally important that we help students celebrate and embrace that diversity," Chancellor Farina said. "These schools are a wonderful example of what we can achieve when we focus on promoting inclusion and respect for people of all backgrounds."
Respect for All is an initiative that schools participate in throughout the school year, with the goal of combatting bullying as well as harassment based on ethnicity, color, national origin, race, religion, citizenship or immigration status, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, weight, and disability.
To support schools, the DOE's Office of Safety and Youth Development has made resources available to principals and school staff members through the online Respect For All Library, which includes sample lesson plans and connections to community organizations that offer programs and free curricular resources. The DOE also provides full-day professional training in age-appropriate curriculum.
The initiative is supported by the City Council, the United Federation of Teachers and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.
"The Respect for All curriculum encourages discussions and lessons centered around diversity," explained City Councilman Daniel Dromm, who chairs the Council's education committee. "Bullying should not be part of any student's day."
The winning schools were cited for creating various programs to discourage bullying and encourage respect.
At Staten Island Tech, for example, staff from the office of District Attorney Daniel Donovan visited the school to address to students about internet safety and cyberbullying.
Tech also created a special "Respect for All" "button" on its school website that allows confidential online reporting of instances of bullying behavior and bias.
Meanwhile, PS 29 created a Leaders Of Character for Kids (LOCK) Council to reinforce that character is key to success. The School Leadership Team designed a program for fifth-grade students that allows them to earn rewards for community service, academics and good behavior.
At PS 20, the school initiated a "Character Counts" program where students focused on a positive character trait each month to promote respect and positive behavior and conducted classroom lessons on each month's trait. The school also created a "color of the month" to match each month's trait, which the entire school community wore to the monthly assembly program to show solidarity with one another. Students also created "bumper stickers against bullying" displayed on a "Bully Free Zone" bulletin board in the school lobby.