Hopatcong Students Learning Respect

wants its students to "follow the rainbow to respect."

Guidance Counselor Lisa Schuffenhauer, art teacher Karin Frey and teacher Luis Mendez received a grant from the New Jersey Education Association and the Hopatcong Education Association to help promote respect.

"They need these foundations" of respect, Schuffenhauer said. "And a lot of times it isn't coming from home when you'd think it naturally would come from home. They need a foundation of respect for the rest of their lives."

The students on Friday donned colored shirts, which, when they stood  together outside during the afternoon, formed a rainbow. The students will wear the shirts during the first school day of each month.

Additionally, Mendez will design a character education-based play and Frey host an art show. Each will tie in the theme of respect.

Schuffenhauer said Stacy Yanko, who was named , helped teach library classes about respect. The children also created designs marketing respect, and one will be chosen Wednesday to hang in front of Tulsa Trail.

Schuffenhauer said Hopatcong schools focus on character education as early as kindergarten.

"If they don't have that foundation, they're not available for learning," she said.