By: Dawn Gonzalez, for The Cordova Times
Beginning in August, Mt. Eccles Elementary School was fortunate to start holding Monday Morning Assemblies again as an entire kindergarten through 6th grade student body. Morning assemblies were something that happened regularly prior to the pandemic and reinstating these assemblies for staff and students has been spirit-building and refreshing!
Every Monday morning, students and staff members gather in Mt. Eccles Commons area to kick off each week with a celebration. We begin our assemblies with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by our school song and morning announcements. These activities are followed by something different each week. Some weeks we have classroom presenters share projects and special things they are learning. In recent weeks, our English language teacher, Laura Bowman, and her students have been sharing an interactive, multicultural language lesson. At the end of each month, Character Trait Awards are shared to honor students that exemplify the character traits we are learning about that month. For example, we honored students that teachers selected who exemplify gratitude during the month of November. Students are presented with a certificate, and a narrative their teacher wrote about them is read to students and staff. At the end of each quarter, we also recognize our Students of the Quarter during the assembly. Those students receive a certificate as well as $10 toward the purchase of a book from Scholastic Book Club.
Mt. Eccles is fortunate to have community members share presentations with our students and staff. The Cordova City Garage staff shared a safety presentation prior to our Walk & Bike to School Day. The Cordova Volunteer Fire Department gave a fire safety presentation and visited classrooms during Fire Prevention Month in October. The Native Village of Eyak spoke at the assembly to educate and get students excited about Native Culture Week and the activities they would participate in during that fun-filled week. Cordova Family Resource Center and their B.I.O.N.I.C. (Believe It Or Not I Care) team performed a fun skit to get students excited about Kindness Week, and their presentation was very successful! You may have seen some of the posters produced during Kindness Week displayed in our local Post Office.
Having community members visit the school to share important lessons and information with our students is an important part of our school’s mission and vision, which is always a priority for Mt. Eccles Elementary School and for our school district. We are always looking for presenters that might have cultural lessons, important information and fun activities to share with our students and staff members. If you think that you may want to bring something to our Monday Morning Assemblies please do not hesitate to reach out and contact Mt. Eccles Elementary School with your ideas.
