April 2021
Dear P.S. 115 Community,
The Virtue of the Month for April is Tolerance. Tolerance is being accepting of the differences of others. It is accepting people for who they are and not judging anyone. Practicing tolerance is showing respect and appreciating differences. It is an understanding that all people have feelings and should feel included.
The book we chose to align with our virtue is titled, Red, A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall. In this touching story we meet a blue crayon who is mistakenly labeled as red. Throughout the story many “people” including his mother, teacher, and even his classmates, (the art supplies) try to help him be red by asking him to draw red strawberries and hearts, sending him on a playdate with yellow to draw a nice orange, taping him because they thought he was broken inside, and sharpening him to make his crayon point sharper. Throughout all of this Red becomes frustrated. No matter how hard he tried he could not be red. Finally, with the help of a new friend everyone learns that Red is in fact Blue! This book teaches us to not judge people by what we see on the outside and to be true to who we are on the inside.
With the sad and devastating current events taking place in our country and in our city, it is extremely important that we educate our students on this important virtue. Teaching tolerance supports the building of an inclusive school community where all students feel safe, valued, and supported. There are many ways we can demonstrate tolerance in our everyday lives. We can do this by accepting others for who they are, making sure that everyone feels included by being friendly towards others, showing forgiveness when someone makes a mistake, and embracing differences including the point of view of others even if we do not agree.
As a school community we value and embrace one another’s differences and celebrate the uniqueness of each individual. We hope to see many positive behaviors that reflect this important virtue in our school community.
Sincerely,
The P.S. 115 Community