Monday, February 28^th brought us news of another school shooting—this time in Chardon, OH. The entire country has been rocked by this violent act that killed three students and injured two others. This is news that we hope to never hear again.

I must admit that I was not shocked when I heard about the shooting. I had just turned 10 years old when the Columbine shooting occurred, so I’ve grown up with school shootings in the news. When I was in elementary school in Minnetonka, MN, a 5^th grader brought a knife to school. Bomb scares happened every so often during middle school and high school, and gun scares were not unheard of on my college campus in Princeton, NJ. While some of us might deny that a school shooting could ever happen in our community, it seems all too possible to me.

Having graduated college back in June, I’m a relatively new employee here at CEP. Joining CEP has pushed me to think about issues such as school violence in new ways. I have realized that violence is something that schools can both prepare for—just as Chardon High School did by creating a response plan to deal with violence when it occurs—and prevent. Can we work toward a new future where shootings and other acts of violence are rarities in school settings? I think so.

We have all heard that instances of school shootings, teen suicides, and other violent acts have been connected to bullying and lack of acceptance at school. Given this, the shooting on Monday highlights the importance of creating safe and caring school communities. Comprehensive character education efforts can build an atmosphere where students feel included, connected, and part of their school community; where both students and teachers step up to report bullying and stand up for victims; where teachers check in with vulnerable or troubled students instead of hoping, “she’s fine” or “he’s too much trouble”; and where parents are involved and engaged. This may seem like just a dream to many, but it is achievable—just ask many of our National Schools of Character!

There are, of course, countless reasons why acts of violence take place in schools. Still, recent events in Chardon remind us that schools—together with parents and their communities—can work to minimize these occurrences. Let’s work together to make each student feel safe, valued, and strong enough to do the right thing.

Question: How does your school work to create a safe and caring school community? Please let us know by posting a comment below!

Printer Friendly

The mere mention of the words “character education” inevitably sparks resistance among certain populations.

If my students don’t get certain test scores, my job is in jeopardy, asserts the overworked teacher. I don’t have time to teach math AND character.

“What do you mean, you’re going to teach my child character?” questions a suspicious parent. “I don’t want the school to teach him something against my values.”

 People are going to be mean no matter what you try to teach them, argues the jaded teenager. All of these “character” programs are a big joke.

These statements are valid—if you are referring to a very limited, narrow approach to character education. We all know the type. It’s characterized by inspirational posters on the wall, times set aside throughout the school year to didactically teach students about a particular character trait, and outdated videos that oversimplify the nuances and challenges facing young people developing a personal code of ethics. Yes, the core values highlighted on the posters and in the designated “character times” are concepts we can all agree upon—surely, that suspicious parent would not object to her son learning about respect, responsibility, integrity, and perseverance. Yet this rather half-hearted attempt to promote the values essential to a student’s (and society’s) optimal development while appeasing the naysayers is not particularly effective, and it has created a widespread misconception of character education as the “soft” part of education that is difficult to dispel.

Difficult, yes, but impossible, no. The case for character education is certainly there. Numerous studies (Angela Duckworth’s grit scale and Joseph Durlak’s meta-analysis of SEL programs come to mind) have shown that particular character traits—such as being able to persevere in the face of failure, make responsible decisions and goals, recognize and manage emotions, establish positive relationships, and constructively handle interpersonal situations, among others—predict success above and beyond IQ. Given that schools were created to equip young people with the skills necessary to succeed in and eventually lead our society, it seems irrefutable that they should not only help their students to attain certain test scores, but also intentionally work to develop these personal qualities in students that enable them to succeed beyond the classroom as well.

The framework for developing a comprehensive, successful character education program is also in place. A growing number of schools across the country have used the Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education to bring staff, parents, and, most importantly, students, together to create a more caring and productive learning environment. Those schools that have received the highest marks according to the 11 Principles assessment tool saw numerous concrete indicators of whole school improvement. For example, students were treating others with more respect. Violence and bullying decreased. Substance abuse declined. Teacher morale and retention improved. Parental involvement increased. And, of course, that lynchpin of all good schools, academic achievement, also significantly improved.

The question remains, then, how to take these success stories to the masses and publicize what effective character education really looks like. If teachers knew that effective character education is the cultivation of a nurturing classroom culture rather than an additional item to fit into the busy school day, they wouldn’t feel as though their agenda were too jam-packed for character. If parents knew that their children would be encouraged to reach their fullest potential in a more respectful environment, they wouldn’t view character education as an attempt to undermine their role as primary moral educators. And if students were involved in creating their own character development initiatives, they wouldn’t dismiss them as an outdated waste of time.

Please help CEP spread the word on what effective character education is and what it is not. We’d love to hear your ideas on how we can further the movement!

Printer Friendly

Students set personal goals at the start of the year.

 A focus on the whole child and each child’s moral and social development pervades the program at Beauvoir the National Cathedral Elementary School, a 2011 National School of Character. The school invests a great deal of time and resources into the “social curriculum,” which is seen as being just as important as, and even part of, the academic curriculum.

All classes spend the first 6 weeks of the school year developing class norms according to the Responsive Classroom methodology. Part of this is the development of class constitutions, contracts, or promises.

Students also set specific personal goals called “hopes and dreams.” Both are posted and referred to regularly in each classroom. During daily morning meetings in each classroom, students greet each other, play a game together, share something of importance to one or more students, and read the morning message.

Even the youngest Beauvoir students start the year with learning the social curriculum in age-appropriate ways. When entering Pre-K, all students are given stuffed bears that they name, make clothes for, and then use for role playing throughout their first two years at Beauvoir. The bears are a tool to teach empathy teachers adapted from the book Bears, Bears, Everywhere by Luella Connelly.

Beauvoir is one of five cathedral schools located in the U.S. and one of three on the beautifully maintained grounds of the National Cathedral located in Washington, DC. Beauvoir is a private primary school, serving preschool aged children through third graders.

Beauvoir will be presenting at the 18th National Forum on Character Education in San Francisco, Oct. 19-22.

Printer Friendly

Sullivan Primary School (pre-K through first grade) weaves character into every facet of their day. At such an early age, students are given many opportunities to apply values in everyday discussions and play.

One project that started as a small building service project grew to a district-wide project that now includes every campus in the school district, community businesses, citizens, parents, children, and school staff. The “Bowls for Hunger “soup supper night brings all stakeholders together for an exciting night with donations of goods and services as well as building relationships.

Students serve soup donated by local restaurants and businesses in ceramic bowls the students make in art class. Bread is distributed to those in attendance by student leadership groups from all campuses. Students perform songs of thanks during dinner and then present “gifts of giving” to the organization of choice. Donations raised at the “Bowls for Hunger” event are targeted for whichever cause the whole district student body voted on.

What started as a simple evening has truly been a success. It was “true” service learning that was embedded into the curriculum. Subjects such as math, reading/literature, social studies, and art were incorporated. Students were read the books Stone Soup and The Rag Coat. During class meetings students discussed what it means to be hungry and have wants and needs.

Students brainstormed ways they could help others. They associated the rag coat to a rag quilt, and each student decided to bring a piece of their own clothing to create classroom quilts to give to a homeless shelter. Parent volunteers assembled and sewed the quilts together working hand in hand with the students. Once finished, students gathered at a class meeting, covering with the quilt to experience the warmth, and reflected on their donated piece that now represented a collaborated quilt for a cause.

Students wrote reflections and added illustrations to be bound in a booklet to accompany the quilts for pleasure reading. To symbolically tie our community as one, each visitor received a strand of fabric as they entered the soup supper night and were asked to tie their fabric to the “Community Character Caring Quilt.” The quilt is on display in our Performing Arts Center as a constant reminder to all that together we can make a difference.

Now each year Sullivan has a service learning focus theme. In the past we have had “I Can Help,” “We Give Back,” “We Can Help Make a Difference,” and “Proud to Serve.”

We believe at the Sullivan Primary School that Parents + School + Community can only = Success.

Printer Friendly

How do we prepare our students for a future in which the jobs they will be doing do not yet exist and the technologies that they will be working with have not yet been invented? The answer to this question is varied and controversial. However, one thing we know for sure is we have to teach our students to lead, act responsibly and respect each other.There are many opportunities for students to gain leadership skills and embody our culture of good character at Beverly Woods Elementary School. In the primary grades, students gain the skills through hands-on service learning projects and character education lessons. In the upper elementary grades, students become school leaders and serve as role models for the entire school.

Leadership opportunities are available through our mini-society as well as through two unique groups: Kid’s Character Council and Peer Mediators/Character Coaches.

Our mini-society provides an opportunity for students in grades 3-5 to be involved in making our school a better place to learn. Student jobs provide real world opportunities for students to learn about responsibility, leadership, and citizenship. Examples of student jobs are morning announcement broadcasters, school newspaper, recycling club, and adaptive P.E., a special P.E. program that pairs a typically-developed student with an exceptional student.

Students choose a job and complete an application in which they must explain in writing which character traits they possess that qualify them for the job of their choice. Then students participate in an interview conducted by volunteers in the community. Our students take the interview very seriously and practice important skills such as a firm handshake, eye contact, and clear communication.

Kid’s Character Council provides another opportunity for students to hold a leadership position in the school. These student leaders serve as positive role models for their peers and encourage the school community to participate in school-wide service learning projects. For example, Beverly Woods has a relationship with a local charity that serves homeless children in our school system. Character Council members visit classrooms and go on morning announcements to raise awareness and promote service projects benefiting this organization. Council members also organize and participate in a service project over the summer that provides a hot meal for students and their families in a nearby high poverty elementary school.

A new program that we are starting this year is Peer Mediation/Character Coaches. Student leaders received training in mediation and conflict resolution techniques. Peer mediators will conduct mediation sessions designed to help students with disputes to resolve their own conflicts. In addition, these students will serve as character coaches by participating in school-wide behavior expectation assemblies and appearing on the morning broadcast where they will talk about our character traits as well as positive conflict resolution strategies.

At Beverly Woods our mission is to provide students with a strong academic and character-based foundation which will prepare them to explore, lead, and serve in our global society. We seek to continuously improve our existing programs as well as identify new programs that will develop student leadership skills and positive character.

Printer Friendly

Teachers can help students develop the skills to engage authentically across difference through a series of interviews with the end goal of composing and making a gift of a published account of their partner’s story. The service is the gift of story and the gift of friendship. The highlighted character quality is respect.

Students at The Blake Upper School in the advanced writing class have been involved in a service learning experience with senior citizens. Thirty-five students and three teachers have worked to practice listening and writing skills and to work with elderly partners at Copperfield Hill, a home for senior citizens.

The residents at Copperfield Hill requested contact/ friendship with young people and expressed a genuine need to have their life stories recorded for themselves and for the library at Copperfield Hill.

Before their first visit students discussed what does it mean to be elderly? What are the challenges and pleasures of being a senior citizen? What are lifelong healthy habits? How do we show respect for our new senior citizen partners? How do we build trust with elderly partners so they will be comfortable telling us their life story? How do we listen so we tell the story the elder wants recorded rather than the story we think is most important?

Students responded positively to this opportunity and took leadership in planning the logistics of the project. When would we go? Would we go together or as individuals? How would we travel? They decided to go on a bus for the first and last visits; they would go individually one or two more times to meet with their partners. Students decided the character quality they would demonstrate with this project would be respect for elders.

The activity, securely tied to curriculum, encouraged speaking and writing skills. Work in progress was discussed weekly with teachers.

Students journaled to record their thoughts and feelings of every visit. Class discussions on the journal entries brought out student reflection. The students were delighted to find the affection and connection that grew between themselves and their partners. They also were pleased to see their listening and writing skills improve.

The final product was a life story complete with photos given to the senior partner. The service gift was the gift of story and the gift of friendship. The students presented the final products at an afternoon tea party to which the elders invited friends and relatives. In small groups the stories were read out loud to much enjoyment.

“Narrative is radical, creating us at the very moment it is being created.”
–Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture

Printer Friendly

In this era of high-stakes testing and ever-increasing accountability, educators across the country have become familiar with the term “as evidenced by” when it comes to defending their school improvement plans. While testing is important, we know that developing healthy, responsible students is a mandate upon which we cannot compromise. As a native of the “Show-Me State,” I look for “evidence” that we are continually attempting to build a safe, caring school community that promotes tolerance for all of our citizens.

Bayless Junior High School is the most culturally diverse school in Missouri. We have transformed our school into a caring community that strives to celebrate both our students’ similarities as well as their differences, the process of which assisted our school in earning both State and National School of Character recognition. We continuously seek answers the following questions:

• Why bother building a caring community?
• How do we start building relationships?
• How do we teach tolerance?
• How do we know we’re making a difference?

Mark Twain said, “Necessity is the mother of taking chances.” After the faculty and I reviewed our rapidly-changing demographics six years ago, it became apparent we had to take a chance and do something. Currently, 50 percent of our students speak English as a second language, 62 percent receive free and/or reduced lunch, and 20 percent have individual education plans. In addition to responding to the typical issues associated with mixing various creeds, colors, races and socio-economic backgrounds within an adolescent melting pot otherwise known as a “financially-challenged suburban junior high school,” we knew we also had to provide for students who were struggling with the breakdown of their nuclear families, mental illness, depression, suicide, and teenage sexual exploration/promiscuity. We realized to make an impact upon our kids, we needed to build relationships – one at a time – among our students that emphasize trust in a caring community.

To begin this process, the faculty, staff and students identified our core character values – respect and responsibility – which continue to serve as the characteristic goals of good relationships at BJHS. Shortly thereafter, a student committee created The Touchstone. A touchstone is used to measure the quality of precious metals. The BJHS Touchstone is used to measure the quality of not only our character education initiative, but also the roles and responsibilities we each have in forging the relationships needed to continually improve our school. The Touchstone is recited each morning to reinforce what we believe respectful and responsible relationships and behaviors look like:

At Bayless Junior High, we take the high road. We take pride in our school. We use kind words and actions, listen thoughtfully, and stand up for ourselves and others. We show respect and take responsibility for our learning. We are Bayless Junior High!”

In an attempt to teach tolerance among our diverse students, the staff and I recognized that we needed to respect the way our students learn. Again, to paraphrase Twain, it required us to take a chance. The kids who attend our school are very different from those who attend middle schools just a few miles away; therefore, we teach them differently. Ten BJHS faculty members volunteered to pilot an ELL program for the state, known as the Missouri SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Initiative. Due to the success of this pilot program, which emphasizes teachers intentionally causing students to read, write, speak and listen to one another, SIOP became the instructional model for the entire school. The increased communication among students not only improved state assessment scores, but also increased our students’ understanding and tolerance for one another and their cultures.

We know our efforts are paying off in a number of ways, ranging from improvements in student test scores, attendance rates and parent survey results, to a decrease in failing grades and disciplinary incidents. Just as important, though, are the numerous authentic opportunities our students and teachers now routinely pursue to promote our school as a caring community that embraces tolerance.

I’d love to hear how your school provides opportunities for students and staff to emb

Printer Friendly

We have heard it said many times that “learning is power,” and while obviously this is true, we often do not examine how we empower the learner.  How do we create an inviting atmosphere where students have autonomy? How can they apply the knowledge, skills, and values we have taught them to become moral, ethical people who are committed to themselves and the communities they live in?

In the Fox C-6 School District student empowerment is woven into the fabric of everyday living, everyday learning.  When students are provided meaningful, authentic learning opportunities that spark their natural interests and goals for learning, they are transformed from passive learners to empowered learners.  To empower students means to step away from our comfort zones and let students become the teachers, facilitators, and leaders in our schools.

In the Fox C-6 District students are empowered when they take it to the Summit!  Our annual Student Summit is a unique model to foster student empowerment. Student representatives from each of our 18 schools collaborate with teachers, principals, board members, community members, and superintendents to solve real problems.  Past Summit topics have included bullying, cyber safety, health/wellness, and service-learning.

As students unleash their creativity to formulate action plans addressing these issues within their individual schools, adult stakeholders play a critical part in modeling important skills, helping to teach and facilitate active listening and the delicate process of criticizing ideas and not people. As they dialogue with students, they serve as springboards to take students through the process of problem solving, mirroring back to them their ideas.

Back at their own schools, teachers and principals help students carry out their plans, providing the resources needed to see the plans reach fruition. Each year as we look out across our District Service Center, there is nothing more powerful than to see all stakeholders creating an important, transformational component to the educational process, the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, to student to teacher.  This is just one, pointed approach that we use to empower our students to bring relevance to their learning and development of their character.

Our Student Summit’s success is a direct result of a carefully planned, methodical, and shared leadership approach.  The Summit’s theme is determined by the superintendent and then organized through an assistant superintendent and our district character education leader. The leadership shared between principals, teachers, and students then cultivates the projects to their successful completion.

The rewards from doing such an event are far greater than we ever anticipated.  It has broken down the walls between the schools and brought a small town feel to a district of 18 schools and more than 12,000 students.  We are not working in isolation anymore, but through a shared process that requires and recognizes the efforts of all stakeholders. This is a tremendous hallmark to this event.

Students are given the opportunity to try and even fail.  Staff must walk a fine line as they assist students in planning and leading their initiatives.  Staff must understand the difference of helping versus controlling. Students must be empowered through activities that give them opportunities to be successful and help them acquire the confidence and skills to eventually develop more significant projects.

Starting with smaller projects is critical in achieving the best long term success for students.  Reflection time is also essential for students to practice evaluating their initiatives. This gives them an opportunity to pinpoint successes and weaknesses. To foster student empowerment staff must consider, “How can we effectively prepare our students to be successful, empowered leaders? What skills must they have?”  Once this is determined, proper training of students and staff must occur to bolster shared success in developing students into empowered learners.

One of the greatest values to empowering students is that it results in greater power for the learning community. The alienated student no longer exists. Students who were once passive learners are active learners and are thoroughly engaged in a learning process that taps into their ideas and their voice.  For some students, their school is the only place where their voice is heard.  In the Fox C-6 District student voice is loud and it is heard!

We know that we can develop students who will take their voice and be empowered to teach, transform, and touch those around them in a very profound way.  In the words of our superintendent, Dr. Dianne Brown, “The best data that you can get is from your students.  They are our greatest resource; they live it every day.”

We must have the courage and responsibility to listen to students.  If they are to lead our society, we must be willing to learn from them.  Listen to your students. Give them a voice. Empower them to learn and lead!

Printer Friendly