Wareham Wednesday spreads positivity for middle school on social media

Nov 8, 2017

Wareham Middle School has a new way to add some pizzazz to hump day, with Wareham Wednesdays combining social media, selfies and positive character traits.

Wareham Wednesday started at the beginning of the school year, after science department Chair Sue Taber and math department Chair Bonnie Lasorsa attended a conference in Nashville, where they heard about the idea from a teacher in Middleborough.

The concept is simple: faculty roams the halls and takes photos with students, holding a sign that displays the characteristic of the week: respect, responsibility, leaders, kindness, thoughtfulness.

The kids love it, said Principal Peter Steedman, and have a lot of fun with it each week, but so do the teachers. Assistant Principal Sandy Ponte said she thinks it’s a great way to infuse joy into the school day.

“It’s a really pleasant way to start the day and it makes kids excited to come in in the morning,” Ponte said.

Though sometimes 50 pictures are taken on a Wednesday, only the best are selected for social media. They’re posted on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #PositivelyWareham. Taber and Lasorsa said they even have written that hashtag on the Great Wall of China.

“We left the mark globally,” Lasorsa said.

Wareham Wednesday gives the school a positive image on social media, rather than just the negative comments that can build up, Ponte said.

“We are able to tell our own story,” she said.

The Wareham Wednesday posts have grown in popularity since the beginning of the year, and school faculty hope to see more engagement. To see the posts, follow “Wareham Middle” on Facebook and Steedman and Ponte on Twitter.