San Fernando Valley : Students Taught Manners Matter
About 500 students at Valley Schools in Van Nuys spent time Monday learning lessons more fundamental than reading, writing or arithmetic.
They practiced manners--simple acts of politeness such as standing when an adult enters the room, listening when someone speaks and raising a hand before talking.
It’s all part of what may be the nation’s first comprehensive school curriculum on manners, created last year by Valley Schools instructors Deborah Richmond and Diane Manchen.
“It’s a simple presentation of something that’s been missing,” Richmond said.
“Respecting Elders,” “Language: Appropriate & Not,” “Temper Control” and other lessons in the program stress desirable behavior. Dozens of school districts have expressed interest in the manners curriculum, officials said.
“We’ve received several responses from all over the United States, even from Alberta, Canada,” Manchen said. “The response is the same--’We want this. We need this.’ ”
At Valley Schools, the two-week lessons are customized by each teacher. Instructors say the program has helped after just one year.
“It brings out the good in the kids,” Baldwin said.
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