‘Most Respectful’ Students Honored at School No. 4

During the last week of October—Fort Lee School No. 4’s “Month of Respect”—students in each class were asked to vote for the “most respectful student” in their class. The 22 students who earned the recognition of their peers were honored at a breakfast reception Wednesday sponsored by the school PTA.

Director of school counseling, anti-bullying specialist and character education program coordinator at , Nancy Sanders, said that because there likely was more than just one respectful student in each class, nominating just one “was a difficult task.”

“They really had to think about it,” Sanders said. “But the most important part is it came from the students.”

The PTA supplied the honorees with what Sanders called “a lovely breakfast” of bagels and fruit Wednesday morning at the school’s “etiquette table.”

Guests at the breakfast included Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle and School Resource Officer (SRO) Vincent Buda, in addition to school administrators and members of the PTA.

“Mr. Engravalle gave the students a little Superman sticker to give them the message that this is something that we really want to see, and we’re proud of them,” Sanders said.

Among the 22 honorees was sixth grade student Risa Sunakawa, who said that when she learned her classmates had nominated her, it made her “happy and proud.”

Risa said she thought she was nominated “because people noticed that I was being respectful.”

“It means that you are kind to other people; that you care about other people,” Risa told Patch. “You’re not mean to them or anything.”

She added that the breakfast Wednesday “tasted good.”

The entire month of October was dedicated to “Respect” as the school’s character value of the month, with a slew of events and activities planned around the theme.