Five Richland students got into the spirit of school as they checked out their new classroom and books.

ESSEX - With the final days of summer winding down, school is cranking up. It wasn’t more evident than on Tuesday evening during Richland Elementary’s annual open house. “Our enrollment is down a bit from the end of last year to 178,” elementary principal Traci Suiter said. “But I’m ready for school. I’m always ready for school - these kids are my life. Other than my family, they’re the most important thing to me.” That importance could be seen roaming the common areas of the school with hallways decorated in bright colors, bulletin boards adorned with academic themes and class rolls plastered on doors. Stepping in to the classroom one found not only the teacher, but throngs of students checking out desks, books and classroom features. Stepping into Cara Merritt’s fourth grade classroom found a teacher being completely honest with her students. Due to recent budget cuts by the state, for the first time in nearly 25 years all of Richland’s elementary classrooms will be self-contained. That means students will be taught by one teacher all day long, and that presents nervousness for even the veteran teachers.

“I have spent the last few years teaching just social studies,” Merritt told one of her young students. “So we are going to have to help each other out. We are all going to have to learn together.” Learning together is what school is all about, and the past few years have seen the Richland Elementary students not only show up to learn, but be excited about learning. One way in which Richland helps excite kids about learning is the Rebel Scholars program. “This program recognizes those students who achieve, what we think, is above honor roll status,” Suiter said. The program has stringent requirements, too. To qualify as a Rebel Scholar, students must not miss more than four days the entire school year, have nothing less than a B- on their report card and no discipline referrals from the principal. Students who meet those criteria are rewarded at the end of each quarter. Those who meet the requirements every quarter of the academic year are not only deemed Rebel Scholars, but are rewarded with a free trip. “In the past we have gone to Cardinals games and Six Flags,” Suiter said. “The program has really had a positive impact - increasing our attendance to a consistent 95-98 percent.”

Building Character

Just like their younger counterparts, the junior high and high school students are preparing for the beginning of their respective academic years. “This is going to be a good year,” Richland High School Principal Brenda Campbell proclaimed. “We’re going to have a good one. Our enrollment numbers are up a bit from last year. I believe we have somewhere between 210 and 220 students currently enrolled” Students are also going to be faced with a new reality once the school year begins. A grant funded by the federal governement has allowed the Richland Schools to implement a character education program. The school is one of 32 Missouri schools that are currently participating in the program and will eventually be one of 64. The program requires each teacher to incorporate a specific character trait - chosen by community members and faculty - every day for an entire month.

“The first trait that we will be hitting on is respect,” Campbell said. “So for the first month, every teacher will somehow incorporate the character trait of respect into his or her lesson plan for the day.” Specific traits will be chosen by community members at monthly community meetings. Another program that will be implemented alongside the character education program is a mentoring program. “Every teacher will be assigned 14-15 students to mentor,” Campbell said. “We’ll divide it as evely as we can - but what we are hoping to do is to get the faculty more involved with our kids.” The first community meeting will be held following the high school’s open house. The open house is currently scheduled for Aug. 26, between 5 and 7 p.m. The community meeting will be an informational meeting regarding the character education program and will begin immediately following open house. All community residents are invited to attend.