Last week my brother and sister completed RAGBRAI—the bicycle ride across Iowa. From the starting point in Sioux City to the end point in Dubuque, they rode 480 miles over the course of the week. They both came home tired but euphoric. They’d had a wonderful time.
My sister couldn’t stop talking about how friendly everyone was. “Iowa has to be the most hospitable state ever,” she said. At every stop, people from all walks of life offered their homes to the bicyclists (and there were a lot of them. One count on the first day reported 20,000). The bikers camped out in their yards, slept in their basements, and shared their family rooms.
My sister also noticed a decorating trend in Iowa. “Everyone decorated their houses with words and sayings,” she said, “sometimes just plates on the wall that read ‘Love,’ ‘Family,’ ‘Friendship;’ sometimes framed poems or quotes.” Two she particularly remembered:
“We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”
“Do take care of the little things or they may become big things.”
I couldn’t help but think there was a connection. Decorating their homes with the core values they believed in surely helped reinforce their hospitable behavior. CEP’s framework, the Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, begins with a focus on core ethical and performance values. When schools decide what they value most and work to achieve those values, good things happen.
If you want to learn more about CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, there will be lots of opportunities at our national conference, the 17th National Forum on Character Education in October. Come experience the many success stories that have sprung from embracing character education.
From our all-day Foundational Training on Oct. 27, to an in-depth workshop “Aiming for Virtue” to myriad breakout sessions, you’ll find lots of ways to learn more and to develop your own success story.
We had a similar experience in Wisconsin last month. My brother was hosting some bikers, just random athletes on a bike tour who needed a place to stay. Strangers, really. It took trust on my brother’s part to welcome them into his home, and it takes determination and drive on their part to strive to meet their goals through these bike races. What turns the strangers into friends? I think it’s character. The generosity of people like my brother and the faith of those cyclists. One of them shared his pasta dinner with my older son that night while the other visited with our youngest about why he was wearing a pedometer. I heard such a strong connection between this recent college graduate and my incoming sixth grader as they discussed his Trek Across Texas and how he set a goal and how many steps he had to take a day to meet his goal and how he was one of the 6 kids who actually logged their steps the whole year, inspiration to a Purdue grad who’s having trouble finding a job. What a great example of the circular nature of giving and receiving.
That’s exactly what happens at the Forum. I’ve had the pleasure of presenting a breakout session for a few years now, and my experience has been that the more I give, the more I get. Don’t miss this win-win chance to connect and collaborate with other character mentors!
Thanks for reminding me that character is not something that you do, rather it is what you are!