In February, Main Dunstable students and staff participated in a school-wide assembly to demonstrate their understanding of the four character values, which are the foundation of the Program.

Main Dunstable Elementary School students and parents express sincere gratitude for teachers and staff during National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-8, 2020, for piloting the Choose Love Enrichment Program this academic school year. Main Dunstable is one of several schools in Nashua piloting the Program during the 2019-2020 school year.

The Choose Love Enrichment Program is an evidence-based social and emotional classroom program teaching children how to choose love in any circumstance. The program focuses on four important character values – Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Compassion in Action – which cultivates optimism, resilience and personal responsibility.

Beginning in September 2019, Main Dunstable Principal Kelley Paradis and Vice Principal Jackie Okonak led the charge for teachers and staff to incorporate aspects of the Choose Love Enrichment Program curriculum into their daily classroom lessons. Students signed a Choose Love Pledge and began learning about the Choose Love Traits, which ultimately became tools that can be applied by any individual in every situation and circumstance.

In February, Main Dunstable students and staff participated in a school-wide assembly to demonstrate their understanding of the four character values, which are the foundation of the Program. The assembly, which included presentations by each grade level from Kindergarten through fifth grade, included songs, signs, and skits to express the students’ understanding of Choosing Love and each Core Value (Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Compassion) which they use to guide them in their thoughts and actions.

A major message of the Program is “We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond.” As such, the Parent Teacher Organization is grateful our children have learned to choose love over the last seven months to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Over the last four weeks our school-community has shown much Courage and Gratitude for each other through Facebook posts, a staff car parade, virtual school spirit days, classroom video calls, and so much more.

The Choose Love Enrichment Program is an evidence-based social and emotional classroom program teaching children how to choose love in any circumstance.

In speaking about this program, Principal Kelley Paradis and Jackie Okonak jointly stated, “We are so grateful that we are able to embed the Choose Love program into our curriculum. We are seeing wonderful results in our students this year and look forward to the years ahead.”

As parents, we cannot thank the teachers and staff at Main Dunstable Elementary School enough – most whom have navigated uncharted territory with remote learning – for their commitment to our children, their patience with our families, and their lessons on Choosing Love, which are paramount in getting through this surreal time.

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