Letter From The Principal: Do You Have A Positive Attitude?

Do you have a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)?

Members of Zero Conflict, the FOR (Friends of Rachel) club, are learning about the power of having a positive mental attitude (PMA).

The following is a definition from www.RachelsChallenge.com for Positive Mental Attitude:

“A positive mental attitude (PMA) is the act of choosing to see and do the good and right thing whenever possible. To have PMA is to look beyond circumstances, see the best path in life, and have the courage and commitment to choose this path. To have PMA is to see the best in people and to live in the world as someone committed to changing things for the better.”

The students will be asked to write their own definition for what a Positive Mental Attitude means to them and to identify “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for a Positive Mental Attitude.

Example:

DO

• Think positively about the people around you
• Be willing to consider the all the possibilities in everything you do
• Help others to find good alternatives or something to look forward to when going through hard times

DON’T

• Give up when the going gets tough
• Gossip and say mean things about other people
• Think negatively about your circumstances

They will also respond to the following scenarios by sharing how a person with a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) would respond as opposed to a person with a Negative Attitude (NA).

Here are the scenarios:

1. A good friend gossips about you.
2. You fail a test.
3. You lose $20.00.
4. You win a competition.

Following this, the students will reflect on the following question: “In life, who is happier? Is it the person with the PMA or the person with the NA?”

Students will then be challenged to identify someone they know with a positive mental attitude and to explain how this person shows a Positive Mental Attitude.

As a closing activity, these students will reflect on their own attitude. Do they see themselves as a positive or negative person and to identify what actions they have done that would show which type of attitude they have.

I would like to encourage you to go through this activity with your own child. And, if your child is not currently a member of Zero Conflict, encourage him/her to find a classmate who is or to talk with a counselor or administrator.

It is our goal to make Zero Conflict more than a club—we want this to be part of our culture at Northeast!

This positive chain reaction of kindness and compassion that started with Rachel’s Challenge reflects the values of Character Education. In a separate link in this e-news, you will be asked to provide feedback on a short Characterplus survey that is designed to assess for the follow six factors:

• Students’ Feelings of Belonging
• Students’ Sense of School as a Community
• Parent and Staff Relations
• School Quality
• Parent Involvement in School
• Parent Involvement in Home

There is a short window of time to take this survey. It will close on May 18, 2012.

Thank you, as always, for your support!