A visit from Beulah Ralph's daughter

Yesterday a special guest visited our class, Monica Naylor.  Mrs. Naylor is Beulah Ralph's daughter.  We learned a little bit about Mrs. Ralph and why she is such an important part of Columbia history.  Beulah Ralph was an educator in Columbia Public Schools for decades.  She began as a secretary and eventually founded the Home School Communicator Program.  Mrs. Ralph was instrumental in CPS's desegregation process.  The Home School Communicator program was initially started as a way to assist black families whose children moved schools as part of the desegregation process.  The Home School Communicator Program now continues the legacy of equal opportunity education by assisting all families as needed.  We are lucky to have Mr. Myron Alexander as our Home School Communicator at Beulah Ralph Elementary this school year.

We want our students to know all about Beulah Ralph, feel proud that our school is named for her and share her legacy with others.  Even though Mrs. Ralph has passed away, we can keep her memory alive and continue her work.

Mrs. Naylor's visit is a great way for kindergartners to get to know Beulah Ralph.  When Mrs .Naylor visits she tells the students a funny story about her mom when she was a little girl.  Each child gets a copy of the story to color and enjoy reading.  They will bring these home in their Friday Folder's this week. 

We are so thankful Mrs. Naylor comes to visit each year!

Counselor

Today during our counselor lesson with Mrs. Davison we started to discuss bullying.  We are learning that bullying is an intentional behavior that is repeated over and over and over again towards a targeted victim.  We also talked about how we need to be careful when we use the word bully.  It is a word that can be very easily thrown around.  We talked about the difference between being mean and unkind and bullying.  If someone accidentally knocks us down on the playground, it might not have felt good, but it isn't a bully.  If someone teases us one or even a few times, but then stops, it is unkind, but it isn't a bully.  It's tough for many to understand the difference and a topic we will discuss often this year.