Michelle Chalk was a student at Johnson Elementary School from 2008 to 2014. She was an enthusiastic participant in all activities, giving everything her best effort. Like much of her life, Michelle loved her experiences at Johnson.
Not all children have such a positive experience at school. Thankfully, Johnson has a wonderful and caring counselor, Whitney McCay. On a couple of occasions, she shared with Keith and Patty Chalk one her approaches to helping those children have a better experience at school. She would prompt the child to brainstorm names of other children that were “safe” for them to be with and to encourage them to approach and engage the safe child. During her years at Johnson, Michelle was consistently identified by other children as safe and was observed to be accepting of other children that wanted to be around her.
To honor the memory of Michelle’s years at Johnson, The Commitment to Character Award is presented to 4th-grade students that are identified as kind, strong, and safe. Especially safe with someone else’s feelings. The 2018 recipients of this award are Lillian Foley and Graham Strange. These students will return to Johnson next year as 5th-grade students and leaders of the school, representing the commitment to the character we encourage all students to achieve.
Video presentation of the award.