Peak to Peak Promotes Life Skills & Lifelong Guidelines

By Tamara Trost

At Peak to Peak Mountain Charter School, our classrooms practice the Lifelong Guidelines and Life Skills developed by Susan Kovalik. Lifelong guidelines include: Trustworthiness, Truthfulness, Active Listening, No Put Downs, and Personal Best. At Peak to Peak, we believe teaching high standards to students creates safe, respectable classrooms and gives students advantages that last a lifetime.

These guidelines form the basis of our school atmosphere where each student is honored as an individual and expected to do their “personal best.” Life Skills form the basis for agreement about behaviors and expectations in our classrooms and in life.  Each month, different life skills for students being their personal best are promoted and focused-on. The month of August’s life skill was “organization.” Organization is important for success in all areas of life, but is especially important in school.

Every month “Life Skill Leaders” from each class are acknowledged to have demonstrated excellence in a particular life skill. Our “Organization” Life Skill Leaders are: Pixie Gump (1^st grade), Eden DeLeo (3^rd grade), Samantha Godbout (4^th grade) and Siena Carruth (8^th grade). Framed certificates and Dollar General gift cards were awarded. Congratulations to these outstanding students!

Life Skills

Friendship – To make and keep a friend. Organization – To plan, arrange, keep things together. Perseverance – To stay with something until it is complete.

Effort – To try your hardest.

Integrity – To be honest and sincere and do the right thing.

Responsibility – To be accountable for your actions.

Patience – To wait calmly for someone or something.

Initiative – To do something because it needs to be done.

Problem Solving – To seek solution in difficult situations and everyday problems.

Caring – To feel concern for others.

Cooperation – To work together toward a common goal.

Flexibility – The ability to alter plans when necessary.

Common Sense – To use good judgment.

Sense of Humor – To laugh and be playful without hurting others.

Curiosity – A desire to learn or know about things.

Resourcefulness – To respond to challenges in creative ways.

Pride – To be proud of what you accomplish.

Courage – To act according to one’s beliefs.

Lifelong Guidelines

Trustworthiness – a me-thee relationship that includes being honest, fair, dependable, reliable and confident in any situation.

Truthfulness – telling the truth, being honest or accurate when giving information or facts.

Active Listening – being able to listen with undivided attention with eyes ears and heart.

No Put-downs – willing to refrain from sarcastic, hurtful remarks that imply “I am better than you”, “smarter than you”, “have more options than you”, or “your position in life is lower than mine”. These type of remarks cause the emotions to take control over thinking and problem-solving.

Personal Best – doing one’s best by being responsible for changing circumstances that allow people to meet expected standards.