Auburn Riverside leadership students Kenny Krotzer, Skylar Krantz, Caity Ramsey and Mat Larsen col-lect school-wide donations such as clothes and toys for the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN), an organization dedi-cated to support women who need escape from domes-tic abuse. Leader- ship adviser Meri Benedict is proud of the student response to those in need. “Students and fami-lies have a lot going on at this time of year, so the support means even more.”

“I Was Caught”

Let me get the door for you.” “Go ahead before me.” “May I help you with that?” These are just a few of the comments Dick Scobee Elementary School students are sharing with each other throughout the school day. At the beginning of the school year, Dick Scobee principal Greg Brown decided to kick off the “Building a Wall of Respect” program after teacher Beth Raines suggested a similar concept to Mr. Brown. “I thought it was a great idea and a great way to encourage kids to start thinking about others,” says Mr. Brown. Essentially the students earn “Caught Being Respectful!” tickets from any staff member who witnesses them being kind, respectful or considerate. Mr. Brown emphasizes that the Building a Wall of Respect program encourages pay-it-forward type behaviors, not necessarily good behaviors. “Holding the door open for others; picking up trash; letting someone else go first in line are all behaviors worthy of a Caught Being Respectful! ticket,” says Mr. Brown. Once a student earns two tickets, he or she redeems them for a paper brick that says, “I was caught!” The students take the “bricks” home to share with their parents and to decorate. Then the decorated bricks are added to the “Wall of Respect” in Dick Scobee’s kitchen/lunchroom. Just the other day a student on the way to school crashed on his bike. Two fellow classmates saw the accident and immediately helped the student up and walked him and his bike to school. The students even led him to the health room to receive medical attention. “The students have really bought into the activity; it’s really exciting to see them reach out to each other,” exclaims Mr. Brown. Now Mr. Brown frequently hears how students are only a ticket away from earning their brick, or that they just earned their brick. Some students already have four bricks on the Wall of Respect. In no time, one full side of the kitchen/lunchroom will be plastered with bricks, which, according to Mr. Brown, means students will have paid it forward two times the number of bricks. In three short months the program has not only created a colorful mural in the kitchen/lunchroom, but it has also inspired the student body to think about others first. “It is really inspiring to see!” remarks Mr. Brown.

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Hunter Storm, a second grader at Dick Scobee, points out her first brick on the Wall of Respect. Hunter earned her brick for showing new students around the school and helping them meet new friends on the playground.

Students Team Up with the Deaf Community

On December 11, Auburn Riverside High School students in Cindy Anderson’s American Sign Language (ASL) classes congregated at the SuperMall food court like they do most Tuesday evenings—to share a meal and conversation with the deaf community. A little over four years ago, Ms. Anderson determined there was a need for her students to practice American Sign Language in a real-life setting, and to earn leadership and extra credit points. “It got going by word of mouth,” says Ms. Anderson. Ms. Anderson invited the deaf community to attend the silent dinner, and now many are regular attenders. Ricardo Velilla-Mirabel is a regular and enjoys the real-world learning environment. Ricardo signs, “Students learn when they rely on their signing skills, not their voices. It’s important they practice in a setting where they use their eyes and expressions to communicate.”

M s . A n d e r s o n concurs. “When students learn to turn off their voices, which they are more apt to do within a deaf community, they pick up the signs and the language more quickly.” This is often referred to as immersion, which is typically an opportunity for language learners to learn from native speakers. The silent dinners are so helpful to students that many keep coming back

for more practice—and for the relationships formed with the deaf community. Keny Riley, a student in Ms. Anderson’s ASL class, says, “The conversations are interesting, and I feel like signing with students who know more than me and the deaf community

helps me learn better.” Kassy McDonough, another student from Riverside, enjoys stepping outside the classroom to practice the language. “It’s fun to be able to sign to people who experience the language every day.”

And it’s not just the language Ms. Anderson is teaching her ASL students. “Acquiring foreign language is also about learning cultural nuances, customs and traditions, which the students get a taste of at the silent dinners.”

The silent dinners are known throughout the area as fun, interactive and worthwhile, which makes it no surprise when students from the Kent, Sumner, Puyallup and Federal Way School Districts and students from local junior colleges attend. Whitney Jaeckel sums up her experience with Ricardo and other members of the deaf community quite succinctly: “It’s cool. Plus where else will I get the opportunity to sign with so many native speakers?”