At LaMora Park Elementary, the staff are committed to helping students grow both academically and socially, through character development lessons that follow the TrueSuccess learning model. TrueSuccess provides research-based educational tools that teachers implement in their lessons and throughout the school to help students learn about and put into action key traits like Respect, Gratitude, Grit, and Courage.
Recently, Tamara Babcock’s kindergarten class had the opportunity to put a few of the character traits they’d been learning about into action by working together to bag lunches up to take to various homeless shelters around Battle Creek.
“It warms my heart and fills me with joy," Mrs. Babcock shared. "We've been talking about the importance of giving to other people and not expecting anything in return. We talked about how their hearts would be full, so I feel the same way and it’s a lot of fun.”
After putting on gloves and a face mask to ensure safe handling, each student in Mrs. Babcock’s class had a chance to help as they worked in teams to put together and pack sandwiches, chips, and condiments in an “assembly line” style for those in need. Several students also created affirmation messages such as “you are loved,” and tagged them to each lunch bag to help spread joy in the community.
“They were excited,” Mrs. Babcock said. “We talked about giving back to the community in a way that was a little bit more than just accepting canned goods or other food items and doing something to really get involved.”
LaMora Park Elementary principal Angela Morris said the school is really focused on building a positive school culture by implementing character lessons every day in the school. In fact, LaMora Park was recently named a TrueSuccess Platinum Award winner for the 2020-21 school year.
“TrueSuccess means making the right choice at all times,” Mrs. Morris said. “We speak about them in the announcements at the start of every school day and then our teachers share lessons with their students every day of the week the support each month’s character trait.”
TrueSuccess President Dr. Arthur Garner expressed his pride in the work happening at LaMora Park and the other BCPS schools following this model. “I appreciate each school's commitment to Social Emotional Learning and the cooperative spirit that enables them to address the culture within each school," he said.
Learn more about TrueSuccess and character education at BCPS at battlecreekpublicschools.org/truesuccess