Press Release
Media inquiries:
Committee for Children - Dorothy Dubia, Public Relations Manager
ddubia@cfchildren.org
206-438-6694 or 206-300-2933 (cell)
Seeds of Compassion: One Year Later
The “Seeds of Compassion” that were planted by last year’s visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama are flowering at the New School at Columbia in Seattle, as teachers blend a Seeds-inspired “theme of the month” with lessons of the school’s violence prevention curriculum, the SECOND STEP program. This month’s theme is “humility.” The theme for May is “love.”
WHAT: Each month, teachers use a “theme,” such as humility or love, to compliment the SECOND STEP instruction children are receiving.
HOW: Using a Committee for Children document about character education, the school selected “habits of the heart” as a framework for its monthly themes, which it matched to the units in the SECOND STEP program.
Weekly spirit assemblies also focus on the habit for the month. Teachers also incorporate the themes into writing and literature.
WHO: The concept of blending themes with the SECOND STEP program was originated by Rachel Rachel Powers-Carrasco, counselor. She can be reached at 206-252-7586 More information on the SECOND STEP program is available from Dorothy Dubia at Committee for Children, 206-300-2933 or 206-438-6694 (ddubia@cfchildren.org).
WHEN: The SECOND STEP lessons are taught weekly in all grade levels at varying times. Assemblies are held weekly.
About Committee for Children:
Committee for Children, a 30-year-old Seattle-based nonprofit, develops award-winning, research-based social and emotional learning curricula for kids in preschool through eighth grade. Their SECOND STEP program has reached more than 9 million children in schools around the world.
About SECOND STEP:
In SECOND STEP lessons, students study and discuss core social and emotional values such as fairness, honesty, compassion, responsibility, respect, and self-discipline. When a school chooses to implement this program school wide, it is making a commitment to character educa¬tion. The curriculum’s foundation rests on three essential social competencies: empa¬thy, impulse control and problem solving, and anger management. The lessons pro¬vide opportunities for students to develop core ethical values through developmentally appropriate modeling, reinforcement, and practice.
