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Perkins School children got an up close and personal, and lots-of-fun lesson from Sean Covey’s book the“The 7 Habits of Happy Kids” during their monthly assembly October 21 st . Robyn Ross-Squirrell, an administrative intern at Perkins and Newark High School this year, and Perkins School counselor Bryan Malcoff _ who together are writing weekly lessons based on Covey’s book that Perkins School teachers employ once a week to help students individually and collectively fulfill the school’s H.E.A.R.T.S. vision _ facilitated the “Reactive-Proactive” skit. Based on the first habit in Covey’s book that teaches children the merits of being proactive rather than reactive, the skit, written by some Newark Middle School students, featured Proactive Man. Others in the skit included some NMS seventh graders who are in their second year of learning about and endeavoring to implement in their lives Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” as part of the NMS’s Positive Behavorial Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Program. The students, from Michelle Malchoff’s PBIS group at NMS that performed in the skit were: Ethan Barbera, Lindon Byrd, Sam Camacho, Jaden Cooper, Zoe Fisher, Frank Palmer, Ondrayus Parish, Devon Santos and Gabriella Taylor. The skit was previously performed at NMS. “The students were so excited that they were asked to present at Perkins School. They worked collaboratively to practice their lines and made a few adjustments to the skit. Any time our students can share their knowledge and learning with others in our school community, it is a win win! I am very proud of the work we are doing at the Middle School with our students on “The 7-Habits of Highly Effective Teens” and even more proud of the work our students are doing to help each other make positive choices and become role models for the elementary students,” NMS Principal Teresa Prinzi said. Ross-Squirrell said Perkins students really enjoyed the skit. She said activities, based on Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids,” will be performed at other monthly assemblies for the rest of the school year.
