Robyne Stone-Davis

“Walk, please.” “Set a leadership example.” “Make an intelligent choice to walk instead of run down the hallway.” These are Responsive Classroom phrases I use in order to encourage safe school-wide behavior. The two students slow down, smile and say “Hi Ms. Robyne” as they pass by. I work as a counselor and dance/movement therapist at a Washington, DC public charter school. The school serves both special and general education K-8th grade students. In many of my sessions, I receive honest, humbling answers to everyday questions. For example, I casually ask a fifth grade girl (whose shirt has not been washed for days), “How is your Mom?” She turns her head away and responds softly, “Ms. Robyne, my Mom stays in bed all day.” I mention to a lethargic fourth grade student, “What did you have for dinner?” Her barely audible answer is “We don’t have enough food in the house.” I asked three sixth grade boys in a counseling session to identify male role models in their home life. They laugh and say “I don’t have any male role models at home.” When encouraging a seventh grader to think of times that she has been successful, she shrugs her shoulders and states “I haven’t had any.”