Excerpts from The Hall Weekly Bulletin - March 24, 2008

Assistant Principal's Message : Mr. Boone

When we looked at our 2007 California Healthy Kids survey data, we were reminded that how students treat one another continues to be an important focus area for Hall Middle School.  In order to proactively address this issue and continue having a positive impact on student behavior, Ms. Waters and I recently completed visits to every classroom where we conducted an interactive lesson on harassment.  Over a period of several weeks we worked with students and their teachers to define “bullying”, identify different types of bullying behaviors, increase awareness and empathy, and ultimately work toward a school-wide pledge that reflects our values as a school community.  I am proud to say that our students were receptive and willing to share their personal stories and experiences. Ms. Waters and I now have an even better understanding of both where we are as a school community and where we would like to be when it comes to how we treat one another.  The good news is that that the overwhelming majority of our students and all of our adults on campus are committed to improving how we treat one another.  We challenged students to offer suggestions on what they can do to make this a reality.  Students from each class compiled a list of commitments and a final product will be a pledge which every student and teacher will have the opportunity to sign and support.  This will also provide the school with a common language when addressing the issue of how we treat one another. As I have shared with most of our students and all of our teachers, how we treat one another is an ongoing challenge and the single greatest challenge that at times keeps me awake at night.  Having worked in other districts I can say with confidence that in general I am very impressed with the citizenship I see in our students.  Hall kids are stars. That said, we can get better.  This latest activity is yet another step to help raise awareness among our students and should stand to remind us all: with each new day comes an opportunity to positively impact someone else’s life. - Andy Boone - Hall Assistant Principal