Circle of Friends Week at BWF

Open your minds, open your hearts, open your circle!

Brookwood Forest Elementary School celebrated Circle of Friends week February 1–5, 2016. The circle of friends pledge is to practice understanding, patience, tolerance and inclusion of other students who may have visible or invisible challenges. 

Every day at Brookwood Forest we want students to show empathy and care for everyone, but during Circle of Friends week we were especially intentional in living this pledge. Students spent counseling classes with Ashley Eldridge working through lessons and simulations of various challenges and watched a daily clip of different examples of people overcoming physical limitations.  The upper grades spent an afternoon with representatives from the Lakeshore Foundation, and the lower grades spent the morning with representatives from Hand in Paw. Special book selections were highlighted in the library, and there was a luncheon for the special education staff. 

Posters decorated the halls of the school, and banners were hung at both carpools in celebration of the week. 

The first word staff, students and parents use when describing Brookwood Forest is family, and the backbone of family is being inclusive.  

– Submitted by Kathleen Woodry.