Dixon-Smith Middle School

The CWK Agents of Change here at Dixon-Smith have been taking the first steps toward creating awareness about the importance of having “Connections” at school for all students. We are also continuing to promote a safe, respectful school environment with activities that focus on bullying awareness. The students have brainstormed some creative ideas for the Stand Up Stafford Challenge. Our Agents of Change group has grown to include; Hannah Lowery, Brad Caudill, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Emily Quintana, RJ Thomas, Elizabeth Carter, Ethan Hughart, and Lizzy Drash.

One of our first activities involved creating and displaying colorful posters. Our art teacher, Mrs. Walker, worked with several classes to design eye-catching posters with slogans like; “Be Cool, Come to School” and “Got Connections?” that were accompanied by drawings of all the great reasons school is the best place to be if you want to succeed in the future. The Agents of Change completed their own posters and then displayed the posters throughout our building.

Students, in all grades, take part in a monthly class meeting on bullying awareness. Our second activity coincided with a lesson/video about why a student didn’t want to come to school. After watching the video and discussing the bullying behaviors experienced by the student, classrooms opened dialog about how valuable it is to have personal connections at school. Students then considered their own connections to Dixon-Smith as they completed the Connecting Squares worksheet from the CWK resource guide. Our students also had the opportunity to take a Bully-Free Pledge during their lunch periods and receive their “DSMS Bulldogs Don’t Bully” bracelet. 

The final idea for 2008 is to have a couple of our Agents of Change present a quick CWK infomercial prior to their Band concert. They will highlight the connection fine arts programs offers to students and thank all the parents in the audience for supporting the Band. Special thanks to Mrs. Davis, our Band teacher, for making it all possible.

The PAWS “Positive Attendance With Success” group is continually providing motivation for about 30 students to improve their absences/tardies. Students check in each week to be congratulated for their consistent attendance. We are always happy to see improvements.

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