Vice Principal Kathy Pettibone talks about the Heart Head Hands program being implemented in Galt-area schools. The program strives to build students' character. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Galt Elementary schools teach with Heart, Head, Hands

Two second-grade boys at Fairsite Elementary School run up to Vice Principal Kathy Pettibone Tuesday afternoon, bursting with news.

"I got four stars," they say one right after the other.

"Give me a high five," Pettibone replies.

Suddenly struck shy, the boys raise their shoulders and lower their heads as they slap hands with Pettibone before disappearing back into the lunch crowd.

Individual classes at Fairsite Elementary earn stars for exemplary behavior. Once a class receives four stars the principal and vice principal visit the class to celebrate.

The reward system is just one part of a program, called Heart Head Hands, designed to develop values in elementary students by incorporating life lessons into the school district's curriculum.

The Alameda County Office of Education, which developed the program with the help of teachers from Fremont and Hayward, incorporates the lessons taught by Heart Head Hands into the grades' current reading curriculum.

Teachers say that this approach to character education, the process of teaching students the life skills that they will need to be responsible citizens, allows them to conserve already precious instructional minutes by pairing the lessons together.

Lodi Unified School District runs a similar program that teaches students life skills, according to Catherine Pennington, assistant superintendent of elementary education.

Unlike Heart Head Hands, though, Lodi Unified's character education program is not incorporated into the district's curriculum.

"(It's) making character education not an add-on, but something that they're already doing," said Evan Goldberg, coordinator at the Alameda County Office of Education.

Galt Joint Union Elementary School District is the first Central Valley school district to use the Heart Head Hands program, which has already yielded improved reading grades and better discipline in Fremont and Hayward schools.

So far, Galt teachers love it.

"I've never seen them get this excited about a program," Pettibone said.

Fairsite second-grade teacher Kitty Setberg and her class arrived late to lunch Tuesday afternoon after discussing decision making — one of the program's Eight Great Traits — in a story about a dragon, who bought too much food at the market.

Setberg had to tear her students away from the activity in which they evaluated the dragon's decision making skills.

Outside of classroom activities, students can receive gold raffle tickets from anybody at the school site — including secretaries and other support staff — as a reward for exhibiting caring, honesty or any one of the program's Eight Great Traits.

If a student's ticket is drawn on raffle days, he or she receives a small prize.

Second-grade teacher Kitty Setberg explains how the curriculum and program, Heart Head Hands, work together, on Tuesday in her classroom at Fairsite Elementary School in Galt. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Two weeks ago, at the beginning of the school year, administrators held a school assembly outlining the new program to students and sent information home to parents, soliciting their help in incorporating the program.

Pettibone hopes that if students hear the program's lessons echoed in all areas of their lives — whether that be on the playground, at home, or in the school's office — it will help reinforce behaviors and make them better stewards of their community.

Later in the year Setberg and Pettibone hope to start a second-grade recycling program, an activity that fits into the community-service-learning portion of Heart Head Hands.

"I hope some of the characteristics become imbedded into what they're doing," Setberg said.

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.