All-School Character Write
Dickinson Fine Arts Academy believes in a focus on character education, which has been infused into daily classroom instruction, and become the foundation of the school climate improvement. One good practice of character integration is “All School Write”. During morning announcements in homeroom, a motivational story is read from “Project Wisdom” that inspires students to make good choices, and guides teachers with classroom discussions. The topics describe real people who have persevered during the toughest of times in order to succeed. In addition to the weekly discussions, students respond to a writing prompt that encourages real-life decision making. Teachers collaboratively score the students' writings, using the ISTEP (state test) writing rubric. During this collaboration, all teachers record rubric scores on one sheet in order to track and discuss students’ writing progress. Students volunteer, or are chosen to read their responses on the morning announcements. Those readings have also made students feel close to their classmates through sharing their personal writings.