Congressman lauds school for pupils' caring attitude
RACER program at Goetz Middle School teaches character
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith

JACKSON - RACER, the character education program at Jackson's Goetz Middle School, has drawn the attention of New Jersey Congressman Christopher Smith.

Smith, whose district includes Jackson, visited the school recently to observe and support the RACER program.

RACER stands for Respect, Acceptance, Citizenship, Empathy and Responsibility.

Principal Faith Lessig addressed the Goetz eighth-graders and said, "Chris Smith represents the citizens of District 4, which is Ocean, Mercer, Burlington and Monmouth counties. He has dedicated his life to protecting human rights and to helping the world's most defenseless men, women and children."

Lessig said Smith believes in the ideals of the RACER program.

Eighth grade teacher and character education chairwoman Adrienne Previtera said the RACER program was developed with five essential ethical values in mind.

"In this program, students discuss during homeroom what it means to uphold these values," Previtera said. "We use media clips to demonstrate their importance."

Lesson plans are created once a month which focus on each of the RACER values.

"This month is empathy, where students need to understand what others are going through," Previtera said. "Students will be writing small notes to one another fostering encouragement. This promotes good feelings in the school."

Students learn to address bullying issues, she said.

"We are trying to empower the students," Previtera said.

Seventh grade literacy teacher and service learning coordinator Carol Lawrence said students are taught character components and the teachers aim to have the students act on those character components.

"We take community issues and tell the students they have to act on them," Lawrence said. "We are concerned that when they leave the building they will act as good citizens. We need to make it real."

Eighth grade teacher Mary Beth Beichert said staff members have been imparting the RACER program in lessons for two years. She said Smith lives by those ideals.

"The aim was to bring Chris Smith to our school to show that there are people in government who care and who emphasize the RACER program which we are trying to instill in our students," Beichert said.

The Goetz pupils have been working on several projects to show they care.

"We're doing projects like the African library project," Beichert said. "[Smith] is very much a supporter of the different happenings going on inAfrica and he tries to bring awareness to that."

Beichert said the congressman also tries to make people more aware of autism.

In his remarks to the students, Smith said the school clearly has something going for it.

"Just walking through and talking to some of the teachers and students shows me that you are a very unique and special school, " the congressman said.

He said the RACER emphasis is something government officials do not see in a lot of elementary schools, middle schools or high schools.

"I think you should thank your principal and your teachers for trying to inculcate within you a value system you can take into the world," Smith said. "It all starts with respect, a forgotten notion [that needs to be in] high schools and colleges where everyone is out for themselves. So I think the RACER emphasis is a really important sense for you to take and make it your own."

Empathy is another aspect that is misplaced and forgotten in today's society, Smith said. He said he tries to reach out to the weak, the disenfranchised and the vulnerable and do something about it.

Human rights, humanitarian issues and health care issues are some of the topics the congressman said he deals with in his own district. He noted that this area has a significant incidence of Lyme disease. Smith said he has worked toward legislation and forming a Lyme disease caucus of Democrats and Republicans to get more research dollars to find a cure for the disease.

"I have also done this with autism," he told the students. "This came to my attention where there is a heightened level of autism. I sat down with concerned parents and [then] I tried to get legislation passed to provide additional money for research to lessen the impact of that developmental disorder."

Smith encouraged the students to look for ways that they can empathize. He focused on bullying, which he called a sad commentary on society.

"The weak or the weaker being subjected to remarks or getting hit when you walk in the hallway," he said. "I'm glad to see a school that takes bullying seriously."

Smith asked the students to look in front of them, to the side and to the rear, "because everyone of you is special."

The congressman also touched on topics including environmental protection and climate change, the slave trade and exploiting people, legislation that attempts to prevent AIDS and provide medicine to fight the disease, and human rights issues.

"I traveled through much of Africa where in excess of one million people are HIV positive and I can tell you that tax dollars are having a huge effect in helping to alleviate massive amounts of suffering by these individuals," he told the students.

Touching on the idea of respect, eighthgrader Yahna McPherson, 14, said children who bully other youngsters have no respect for the person they are bullying.

"In school you have to have respect for each other," Yahna said. "You do that in different ways, by holding the door for someone, by helping them with their locker or by picking up a book if someone drops it."

Yahna said that same type of respect has to be applied to the world outside of school, too.

Ryan Clark, 13, said the eighth grade RACER program teaches students to respect and care about each another.

"Congressman Smith really cares, [particularly] about the environment and what is going on. He also knows about bullying and he cares," Ryan said. "He also knows [a lot] about autism."

After the program, Smith said the bottom line at Goetz is that the school is building a community of students with very proactive contact with the faculty.

"This is a model that has to be replicated throughout many schools," the congressman said. "There seems to be a lot of involvement here. There's an esprit de corps and they are trying to make a difference, whether it's with premature born children or the African library program that creates a sense of a bridge [to other nations]. It also teaches that we are our brothers' and sisters' keeper."

In 2007 the Goetz Middle School won the State School of Character Award because of the RACER program and in recognition of the service learning efforts of the teachers and students.