Video delivers message of personal responsibility

HOWELL - Longtime Land O' Pines School pupils Shane Turk and Courtney Dias, both fifth-graders, may not know firsthand how it feels to be the new kid in the class, but they sure understand the importance of reaching out to meet - and help - new friends.

"There is a new girl in my class this year and when she came to school she was very shy," said Courtney, 10. "She didn't know anyone until I tried to become her friend. Now we are really best friends. It's so important to reach out to someone new. I didn't want her to be lonely and now the coolest thing is that I got to meet a really nice person and have a new friend."

"Responsibility to Others" was one of the important lessons taught to pupils on Oct. 25 during a music-filled video presentation by Motivational Productions, a San Antonio, Texas-based company promoting character education in schools.

The children also learned that being responsible to oneself and the entire world around them - everything from home to school to community to the earth's environment - is crucial to being a productive, caring member of society.

"You have to be responsible for what you do and how you take care of yourself and your family and friends," said Shane, 11. "I make my bed, take out the trash and feed my dog. If I don't do those things, my mom will get angry. I know my responsibilities and I take them very seriously."

Motivational Productions has brought its important messages to Land O' Pines many times before with sponsorship from the school's PTO. Last week's assembly was planned in honor of the school's "Red Ribbon Week," a salute to self-esteem, good character and caring about school and community.

"It is so wonderful when we are able to share these important messages with the children in different ways. This presentation used music and movies to explain responsibility in a way that could make the information very real to our students," Principal Sandra DeYonker said.

The video was filled with well-known characters and songs including the stars of "Cars" and "High School Musical." Motivational Productions' representative Tim Palmer explained, "Many children take moral cues from television, movies and music. We select parts of popular songs and films to include in our videos to make them instructional and entertaining."

While the focus of the video shown last week, "Count on Me," is responsibility, the company also shows videos promoting anti-bullying strategies, saying no to drugs and alcohol, and suicide prevention.