Middle School Signs Honor Code
As part of the School’s honor system, the Middle School signed the Honor Code for this school year in a special assembly on Thursday. Students and teachers publicly sign the code in a formal ceremony making a commitment to themselves and the School. After which the signatures are framed and posted in the Middle School.
Head of Middle School Miryah Walters read the book “The Empty Pot” by Demi, which talks of an Emperor who conducted a flower-growing contest for all the children in the land. He gave them all special flower seeds. “Whoever can show me their best in a year’s time,” he said, “will succeed me to the throne.”
Little did the children know that the seeds were cooked and could not produce anything. Ping, the child who was known to grow the most beautiful flowers, was sad that his seeds did not grow a flower. When it was time to present the flowers to the Emperor, the other children carried their pots with beautiful flowers, but Ping came with his empty pot.
The truth about the seeds was revealed and Ping was chosen as the next Emperor because of his “courage to appear before him with the empty truth…”
Mrs. Walters defined “honor” and reflected on the story of “The Empty Pot” emphasizing how important and honorable it is to be honest and true.
The goal of O’Neal’s Honor Code includes five tenets:
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Little did the children know that the seeds were cooked and could not produce anything. Ping, the child who was known to grow the most beautiful flowers, was sad that his seeds did not grow a flower. When it was time to present the flowers to the Emperor, the other children carried their pots with beautiful flowers, but Ping came with his empty pot.
The truth about the seeds was revealed and Ping was chosen as the next Emperor because of his “courage to appear before him with the empty truth…”
Mrs. Walters defined “honor” and reflected on the story of “The Empty Pot” emphasizing how important and honorable it is to be honest and true.
The goal of O’Neal’s Honor Code includes five tenets:
1. To support, in individual students, the further development of integrity, responsibility, and accountability in both academic and personal matters
2. To instill a loyalty to The O'Neal School in the student body as a whole
3. To assist in maintaining a high ethical climate in the Middle and Upper Schools
4. To ensure that a student's work be his or her own and not that of another person
5. To instill in students a constant awareness of the ramifications of their actions and the need not to place themselves in questionable situations or in circumstances that connote dishonest or unlawful acts.
Students are requested to abide by the following pledge as a personal commitment to the honor, integrity and high standards of the School:1. I shall be honest in all matters regarding the life of the School. My word may always be trusted.
2. The work that I present will always be my own.
3. I shall not seek unfair advantage over my fellow students by cheating or by plagiarizing.
The School’s honor code provides for a safe environment where lockers remain without locks. Students write “On my honor” on their tests, and quizzes indicating that the work is their own. Education on the definition of plagiarism is very strong and highly monitored.
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