The Charter School at Waterstone: Making a Difference

While many schools purchase “paper and pencil” resources to teach character education, The Charter School at Waterstone brings lessons to life. Citizenship is a lost art. High demanding jobs, less quality family time and struggles in society and the economy all lend a hand in placing lessons of “being a good citizen” on the back burner. Many schools have found the need to incorporate Character Education into an already packed curriculum. This not only puts added pressure on a teacher that is already spread “thin”, it also makes students huff and puff as they dread another “boring” lesson or lecture on what is right and wrong. At The Charter School at Waterstone, students learn about being a good citizen without realizing they are being “taught”. Character education lessons are best learned through actions where students see the cause and effect relationship. Students are reminded that they are members of the community and must always be considerate of those less fortunate. Annual activities at Waterstone include collection of canned goods for the Miami Rescue mission during Thanksgiving and writing greeting cards attached to food baskets handed out by the Daily Food Bank. Partnerships with the local community allow the students at The Charter School at Waterstone to give of their time, resources and talent through collection of needed items for soldiers deployed overseas, participation in an Earth Day Walk, raising money for other half-marathons with good causes and clean-up of a Homestead park and community.

At The Charter School at Waterstone, all grade levels participate in community service learning lessons to enhance character education and the teachers lead by example. Ms. Melissa Alvarez, fourth grade teacher at Waterstone and volunteer for Radio Lollipop at Miami Children’s Hospital, assisted in delivering toys collected as an entrance fee for Waterstone’s Holidays Around the World concert in December. Ms. Beverly Alfreide, Science teacher and Department Head volunteers each Christmas at an orphanage in Haiti where they enjoyed a great Christmas dinner and gifts thanks to the generosity of the Waterstone community. With the recent tragedy in Haiti, The Charter School at Waterstone collected and donated over three thousand dollars to the Red Cross Rescue Mission in Haiti while partnering with the Homestead Military base to collect cribs, bottle, diapers and blankets for Haitian refugees.

Aside from the daily lessons in being a good citizen which happen throughout the day, The Charter School at Waterstone prides itself for educating children to be globally aware. As a citizen in the community, students must demonstrate tolerance and respect for differences. Students study countries from around the world and become immersed in their studies through our Culture Day experience. This is important as cultural awareness plays a role in the social interactions of such a diverse community.

Lessons in culture and character can only be effective when they come to life and can be applied. Character and culture education at The Charter School at Waterstone is a way of life. Waterstone students do not realize they are participating in a lesson to enhance good citizenship and in turn, being a good citizen becomes a way of life. We are educating the savvy citizens of tomorrow. There are no students in Homestead with a bigger and kinder heart than those found at The Charter School at Waterstone.