(Note: AACPS Employees watching the video on a school computer/server may need to sign into view the video. To sign in as an AACPS Employee, click here and enter your AACPS email address and password).

As you know from this year’s Unlocking our Potential Leadership Conference, we are committed to growing ourselves to grow others in Anne Arundel County Public Schools.  This begins simply by being nice – being nice to colleagues, students, parents, and community members.  If employees see empathy modeled in the workplace, they begin to become more considerate people and the work environment becomes less stressful and more joyful. Employees will engage at greater levels and produce at higher levels in a positive, warm, caring work setting.

With the spirit and philosophy of District 203 in mind, we are going to embark on a small Be Nice challenge that you will be able to tailor to meet the needs of your department. We know every workplace is as unique as the people who work there; we want you to be able to tailor this challenge to meet your unique needs. Depending on your workplace and your desires, you can choose a group as small as 5 or as large as your whole staff to serve as your Be Nice challenge lead team; this is your choice.  We would like to ask that you include at least one community member (could be a parent, student, community partner, etc.) on your team.  If you work at a school, we would like to ask you to include at least one student and one community partner on your team.

Click on the video above to see Dr. Arlotto’s launch of our Be Nice campaign.  The first round of the Be Nice Challenge is known as the Appetizer round.  It is grounded in AACPS's focus on the importance of the simple phrase, "Be nice."  Click on the Appetizer link in the left hand navigation bar for more information about the first round of the challenge.