Sponsor a Book program part of anti-bullying initiative
The Haldane PTA’s Gang Up for Good Committee is focused on creating a healthy school and community climate that is free of bullying and intolerance. One of its main goals this year is to help reinforce the school’s 2nd Step Character Education program by supplementing lessons taught in the classroom with relevant books that children can read in the classroom or take home and read with their families. The 2nd Step program helps students know, care about and act on core ethical values such as fairness, honesty, compassion, responsibility and respect for self and others.
So far this year, the committee has provided 18 books to classes in five different grade levels, as well as to the school library. Titles include I Have a Problem, Said the Bear (first grade) and Lacey Walker, Nonstop Talker (kindergarten) to explore the skill of listening, as well as The Invisible Boy (fourth grade), Hey, Little Ant (second grade) and Each Kindness (fifth grade) to create meaningful discussions around the topic of empathy.
In order to continue this initiative, the committee needs help from the community. To ensure that each grade gets the benefit of character education books in their classrooms, it has developed a Sponsor a Book program. A $15 donation will cover the cost of one book for a Haldane class, and each family’s donation will be recognized with a sticker at the front of the book. Each donation will be matched by Denniston International, a not-for-profit organization working with impoverished communities in the Caribbean. Each donation will also provide a book for students attending schools with few to no books.
Those interested in sponsoring a book should contact Danielle Pack McCarthy at [email protected] or 646-303-8164. Checks can be made payable to the Haldane PTA and delivered to the PTA mailbox in an envelope marked “Haldane PTA/Danielle Pack McCarthy.” For more information, visit haldanepta.org.
