The bulletin board tells how friendship and a beautiful world is the outcome of being civil to one another.

Randy Sprick, a known behavior analyst from Oregon, talks about the importance of teaching civility. He states that we can not expect respect and friendships until we teach children to be civil to one another. And that is at the core of the value system which is interwoven with the curriculum at Marshall Elementary School. Brenda Mitchell (principal) with the help of Deb Schromen (secretary and business manager) decided they would come to the Forum personally to decorate Jane's Bulletin Board for January. They knew what they wanted to say in this unique opportunity to showcase one's work. In this case, of course, the work of Marshall School students.

Every school takes a highly creative track on these projects. Since the bulletin board demands a visual statement, there is always liberal use of art. Some schools let the art speak for itself, while others (like Marshall) use student artists to help illustrate their programs and projects. This strategy widens the circle of colleagues who can get involved in providing material for the bulletin board.

Marshall has a real neighborhood involvement thing going on with their little park project on which they collaborated with their neighboring Fire Department employees. And Marshall is into history. Since January is a month of heroes and holidays (Martin Luther King and some of our greatest Presidents' birthdays are celebrated in January), Marshall wove those threads into their tapestry and the students made an effort to relate their feelings and impressions of the values leaders like King conveyed in some insightful writings that are also prominently featured on Janes' Board.

Watch the video clip (less than 10 minutes) by clicking on the appropriate button above for your particular hookup, and see for yourself how the world can be a better place... especially at Marshall Elementary School.

Click on any of these images to enlarge them.

Deb Schromen (left) and Brenda Mitchell talk with Gary Olsen about their school's creation..