FAYETTE – With the start of the new school year on the horizon, teachers from Fayette Elementary School will be taking part in a workshop called Caring Classroom, which will help teach the children to care as well as improve a morning meeting in the students’ daily schedule.

For 32 years, Pat Stockford of Readfield has been working in the classroom with young children and now, after retiring in June, she plans on starting a new chapter of her life. Thanks to several workshops and courses she attended on teaching children to care at the New England Foundation for Children in Greenfield, Mass., Stockford has now applied all that she has learned in her very own workshop.

“I’ve adapted it for my teaching style,” she said.

Stockford believes that teaching children compassion and respect is a must in the world today. “I truly feel that being responsible, respectful, considerate and cooperative are essential,” she said.

In her workshop, Stockford hopes to instruct the teachers on how to base their day around a morning meeting, in which students are encouraged to communicate and cooperate with one another. “It’s more like a cooperative learning group,” she said.

The 30- to 45-minute meeting begins with all the children gathering in a circle and greeting each other. Stockford considers this part of morning meeting very important and often she will suggest that the teacher compliment the students in order to start the day off on the right foot. Group activities like Brain Gym followed by news and announcements usually make up the rest of the meeting.

In addition to enhancing the social element within the classroom, Stockford incorporates learning into all of her meetings. For instance, she uses puppets to teach children basic math elements. Zero the Hero, one of Stockford’s creations, appears every 10 days, and his girlfriend Susie Snowflake makes an appearance on the 100th day of school to teach the children base-10 mathematics.

Once the school year begins, Stockford suggests that teachers take a six-week introductory approach with the students. “It’s the social curriculum,” she said. “Kids will learn how to open a book properly or use the pencil sharpeners.” After the first six weeks, the academic portion in the classroom begins with the students having already developed a mutual respect and pride amongst each other.

With the success her adapted methods have produced in Readfield during her 28-year tenure, Stockford hopes the same will happen in Fayette. Not only does she plan on playing an important role in the school for the first month or so, but she also looks forward to answering questions and pointing other teachers in the right direction.

With many educational tricks up her sleeve, Stockford is enthusiastic about creating a comfortable environment within the classroom. “A teacher today does not just teach; we also play the role of counselors, nurses and friends.”