[August 26, 2011] Muhlenberg Elementary defining cool at school Tweet Aug 26, 2011 (Reading Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Students at Muhlenberg Elementary Center know what it means to be a "Cool Muhl." The designation, personified in posters around the school by a mule (the district's mascot, spelled "Muhl" for Muhlenberg) wearing sunglasses, refers to students who follow six tenets of good character: Kindness, respect, responsibility, honesty, citizenship and fairness. Cool Muhls also follow the Muhl Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. The campaign has earned recognition from the Character Education Partnership, an international organization that promotes teaching character education. The group selected the Cool Muhl program as one of 260 promising practices it identified in schools in the United States and three other countries. Character education is important because children aren't always getting examples of good behavior from music, television and video games, said Timothy M. Moyer, assistant principal at Muhlenberg Elementary. "There are so many sources of nonpositive messages. We want to give the kids the good stuff," he said. "As a school, we can teach so much more than just the numbers and the reading and writing." Teachers introduced the campaign to students last school year, Moyer said. It will continue this year. The approach is multifaceted: Posters around the school, assemblies and a series of video skits in which faculty members act out the do's and don'ts of the six Cool Muhl characteristics. In the first episode, students -- played by teachers -- listen to a classmate perform a butchered, off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" he's been practicing for his mother. One student points out that it sounds terrible and that the mother won't like it. "That's not respectful," the rest of the class says. What would you do differently, asks the Cool Muhl. The skit repeats, but this time the student is encouraged by his classmates. "Now that's respectful," the class says. Each episode begins and ends with the Cool Muhl theme song, written and performed by teachers. Listen to the theme song You would hear them (students) throughout the year going down the hallway singing the 'Cool Muhl' song," Moyer said. There are also many opportunities for students, classes and even the entire school to be rewarded for being Cool Muhls. "If we can back it up and actually show when examples happen and provide positive feedback right away, that's pretty powerful stuff," Moyer said. Contact Liam Migdail-Smith: 610-371-5022 or [email protected]. ___ (c)2011 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) Visit the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) at readingeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]