Rolesville Principal Shayla Lowman said the goal is to help students understand the role they play in each other’s lives, as well as the community.
“They really enjoyed having the opportunity to embrace the sense of community,” Lowman said. “I think they were excited to be out there and standing together to say ‘hey, we’re having a great year.’”
The school’s motto, “You are safe, you are loved, you are home” was the basis for Lowman’s message to the students before gathering outside.
“It leaves an imprint on these kids,” Lowman said. “Prior to going outside, I spoke to students about what our values are at Rolesville and what it means to be an integral part of this school and how we can make a difference with what we do and how we act.”
A group of eighth grade students were asked to reflect on the school’s theme for this year, “Our Time to Shine.” Below are two responses they shared with fellow classmates before the school hug.
Bailey Fedorowicz: For me, “Our Time to Shine” means that now that we are in eighth grade, we are at the top of the school and some of us are taking advanced classes, so we have to show our skills and shine. For our school I believe “Our Time to Shine” means that because of the past three years being abnormal school years, it is now our time to show that we can have a normal and functioning school year.
Lilly Montague: The motto "Our Time to Shine" means to me, especially for eighth graders, that it’s our time to excel in our academics and sports and in our social life before we start a new life in high school. I think this motto really means for our school, that we will all exceed in anything we do, and the staff and teachers will do their best to prepare us for our future.
Some parents joined the hug and community members shared their thoughts on the school’s social media pages as well.
“I think it says that we really care about our students, we also really value our relationships with our community,” Lowman said. “We posted some photos from the event on our Facebook page, and we even had some comments from people in the neighborhood that heard our event and were encouraged to be living in an area that values our children so much.”
Rolesville Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Rolesville, North Carolina, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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