Day 36 - Alexis Dwyer, Fox Hill Elementary School Counselor

Sometimes the Fox Hill children and staff call me "The One," which I can tell you is not true because I am not the best at anything. ‘The One’ is based on Kathryn Otoshi’s book titled One, which was the inspiration for Fox Hill’s school-wide initiative focusing on standing up for yourself and others in a respectful and responsible way.

This story teaches us about accepting each other's differences and that it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count. Our first school-wide assembly in November was devoted to the theme of “Be the One.” This assembly included some 5th grade children and me interpreting the book on stage as a way to introduce the theme and bring the story to life (See the video below). All the children who were part of the show did a fabulous job designing costumes, acting out a character or narrating the play.


one from Mr. Murphy on Vimeo.

Once the children understood the idea of our school theme, they were asked to consistently practice the positive message behind the main characters actions.It was important to set behavioral expectations and for the children to be rewarded with a sticker for showing "Be the One" behavior that is depicted in the story. Some examples of behavioral expectations or criteria include, when a child stands up for a friend who is left out of a game at recess or uses kind words to tell someone how they feel. Children are earning stickers to be displayed on big “One” cutouts in their classrooms. Since we are asking the children to embrace this motto and buy in to its powerful message, it makes sense for us to practice what we preach and behave as we believe.

I believe in being the “One” to make everyone count and be accepted, even if it’s not always the most popular option. Hopefully the children will continue to call me “The One" because I’m doing my best to send this message and not because I wear a huge green “One” costume in school regularly to remind everyone of the importance of standing up for what is right. Sometimes all you need is "The ONE."