Honor is defined as living your life by practicing courage, respect, forgiveness, and honesty. The Benjamin School truly believes honor is a key aspect in order to be a person of character. This year, Mr. Ronald Ream, a 43-year TBS veteran, spoke at the Middle School’s annual Honor Code Assembly in the Barker Performing Arts Center on September 28.

“It was a true privilege and honor to be there, to tell you guys what I felt the honor code meant to me as a former teacher at the Benjamin School,” said Ream, a current substitute seventh-grade math teacher for Mrs. Gina Thompson.

Head of Middle School Mr. Charles Hagy picked Ream to speak for reasons that go beyond the concept of honor.

“He reaches back in our community,” said Hagy. “He is one of the only people who knew [Mr.] Marshall and [Mrs.] Nancy Benjamin, and really understands what characteristics the school was founded on, one of them being honor. Mr. Benjamin was the most honorable man in this area. He did not tolerate lying. He did not tolerate stealing. He did not tolerate incivility. He was a very polite, articulate person, and he demanded that of our community. [Mr. Ream] can give us a sense of history, and I feel that is particularly important.”

The purpose of the Honor Code Assembly is to emphasize the importance of honor and good character in the hopes that students will make it a habit in all that they do. “We believe that over three years that children can get in the habit of being courageous and respectful to one another,” said Hagy. “That you can be kind, and that you can be honest, these are not things that just happen. They are things that you need to practice.”

Like Hagy, Ream believes the Honor Code Assembly underscores the importance of making good choices. “[I would like students] to take the honor code more seriously,” said Ream.“It is a very serious oath and obligation for every student here at the school. It should not be taken lightly. The honor code goes way beyond just cheating on tests, homework, [and] plagiarising. It goes into lying, cheating, and stealing. The one thing I would like everyone to take away is to take [the honor code] more seriously.”

Unlike in previous years, students were not required to wear professional dress on September 28. Hagy said the reason for this is “a lot of people in our community asked that we just wear regular dress because professional dress is very disruptive to the flow of the school day for PE classes and other classes. There was a request that we go with regular dress this year. I think if students have the right attitude about the day, it will mean just as much even though they are not in professional dress.”

Despite the casual dress, the assembly was meaningful to many members of the student body.

“[Coach Ream’s speech] was very powerful and made a lot of sense,” said eighth-grader Alex Fleming Lake. “I look at [the honor code more] in depth than I used to.”

“[Coach Ream’s speech] taught me to be nice to one another and how The Benjamin School has improved over the years,” said sixth-grader Jack Wahl-Cox. “Now I actually know what [the honor code] means and how it affects a student’s behavior.”

Added sixth-grader Kelly Kutner: “[The assembly] taught me to [find a meaning in] the honor code and to not just write it.”