Students’ behaviors have changed since we were virtual last school year. This behavior has included acting up in the hallways, bathrooms, classrooms, and more. There are many great leaders spreading kindness in Freedom, but some of the students have been doing the opposite.

“The hallway behavior before COVID, I think we were going in a really good direction,” Dr. Ryan Smith, FMS Principal, stated. “Now the directors of the PAWS committee changed what the “S” stands for. It used to stand for success, meaning if you achieved the P, the A, and the W, it would lead you to success. What the PAWS committee wanted was that being successful for being the P, A, W, and the S would also bring you to spread kindness.” Smith also said. 

What the PAWS committee did was change the S in PAWS. Now it stands for “spread kindness.”

 “Hopefully when we add kindness to the PAWS cards it will be a reminder that we need to be kind to one another,” Miss Heiman, FMS Librarian and PAWS coach, said. “Although a lot of the students have been spreading kindness we should improve the way we act. The whole reason we started PAWS in the middle school was so people could be kind to others and not to be rude.”

“In the school, I see kids pushing each other especially getting in their lockers, pushing their lockers shut and kids have told me they are taking stuff out of their lockers and they are stealing the name tags off the lockers,” Mrs. Strati, sixth grade teacher, said. “I think the PAWS team is doing a nice job and I think it is great they are adding spread kindness because I think kindness goes right with respect,” Strati stated. 

The new PAWS cards will be coming this February! We think that we can improve our behavior and have a great school year.