Character Education

The Character Education Program at Mohegan Elementary School is a collaboration between students, parents, staff, and community members. Committees represent each group's interests and work toward meeting our school community's needs. The program is based on the character pillars of: respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, trustworthiness and citizenship. Teachers help to define these pillars for our students in the classroom and they are given opportunities to practice them through activities. These pillars are used in the hallways, cafeteria, playground and on our buses. After a designated period of time during which we were practicing a pillar an assembly is scheduled. We gather together and celebrate what we have done by demonstrating to each other the activities that we have completed. We subscribe to the Eleven Principles of Character that are the foundation of The Character Education Partnership. We use these principles to evaluate our program and to develop ways to make improvements.

Student Council

Mohegan Elementary School, as an outgrowth of its Character Education Program, implemented a student government. Our goal is to give students insight into the operation of a civic meeting, to present them with opportunities to use a decision making process, and to help develop a positive school environment. Any students in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grades are eligible to become a student representative. It is emphasized however, that our expectation is that those representatives will live up to their responsibilities at school in order for them to be a part of this process. We elect two representatives from each homeroom. Grade 3 students who have filed their election application have their names placed in an election box and two names of the classroom representatives are drawn at random. Grade 4 and 5 students who have filed their election application have their names placed on a ballot and an election is held in their homerooms. The exact criteria for that election is decided by their homeroom teacher. For example, a grade 5 teacher may request that candidates in her class write an essay supporting their election and reading it to the class. These representatives then become our student council. The representatives elect student council officers: president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and corresponding secretary. This executive committee will have the responsibility to run the student council meetings, and to help oversee other student committees in the school. Examples are the school store committee, school safety committee, character education committee, or school spirit committee. These committees give students who are not student representatives an opportunity to be involved in other ways.