This Month's Best Practice
Each Month the Maryland Center for Character Education (MCCE) picks one of the Best Practices from a Character Education award winning school to share with you.
MARCH
This month's Best Practices is from an award winning school from 2005-2006.
BEST CHARACTER EDUCATION PRACTICES
School: St. Pius X School
Address: 6432 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21212
Contact: Geri Morrison, Principal or
Vivian Morgan, School Consultant
Phone: 410-427-7400
E-Mail: principal@stpius10.org
vivlmorgan@comcast.net
Title of Best Practice: Character Education School-Wide Initiative
Primary Character Trait(s) Emphasized: Responsibility, Fairness, Trustworthiness, Citizenship, and Caring
Objective(s): To Provide a Comprehensive Approach in Introducing and Reinforcing Character Traits Within our School Community
Character Education has always been a cornerstone of Catholic Education. This year we had decided to provide a comprehensive approach in introducing and reinforcing character traits within our school community. As a result, we found that the emphasis had a greater impact on students and the overall school environment.
Brief Description (including such items as materials needed, persons responsible, sequence of activities, observable results, references, etc.)
Specific Objectives:
Committee Support: We created a Character Ed. Committee enlisting teacher, student and parent representatives. This way we had input from the whole school community on what was important and relevant to all of us.
Classroom Support: Character traits were reinforced with classroom activities in which teachers led discussions, created posters, or engaged in other learning activities emphasizing the trait of the month. The school counselor was responsible for obtaining and distributing to teachers materials and activities to lend support to this objective. These materials were purchased with Character Education in mind.
Individual Recognition: Students were recommended for recognition by teachers and classmates for having embodied and exemplifying the particular trait. These students were awarded in an assembly in front of the school body. They received certificates of recognition and were mentioned in our newsletter to families.
Monthly Skits: Each class was assigned a particular trait (with teacher input) and performed a skit demonstrating this trait at the same monthly assembly as mentioned above. The children created these as a group/class with teacher support.
Morning Announcements: Every Tuesday morning the student representative read a morning announcement reinforcing the “Character Education thought for the week”. These were intended to be inspirational and thought provoking words to encourage students. They were prepared by the school counselor.
Newsletter Information for Parents: The school counselor provided parents with information on encouraging and rewarding character traits in their interactions at home with their children. This went home in monthly mailings to parents.
Year End Survey: At the end of the year the school counselor had the teachers complete an anonymous survey rating different aspects of the initiative and to provide them a forum for feedback. Most teachers reported they saw an improvement in their classroom environment and that at the very least it brought the character trait to their students’ attention.
Student Service to the Community: Our school community does a monthly service project (the first Wed of each month) with Our Daily Bread (a food kitchen in Baltimore City) collecting staple goods from each class (such as tuna, pasta, peanut butter…) to deliver to the kitchen. They also collect between 60-85 beef and potato casseroles, which are prepared in aluminum tins given to school families the day before (with a recipe attached). Families are asked to prepare the casserole the night before and deliver it to school the next day. Parent volunteers then deliver these to the food kitchen. In addition to the food, each month the 4th graders (in groups of 4-5) go to the kitchen and prepare casseroles there. The 8th grade class (in groups of 5-7) goes weekly to Beans and Bread (a shelter in downtown Baltimore) to serve meals for a full day (9am-2pm). These children are accompanied by parent volunteers and youth leaders from the parish. This commitment to those less fortunate is a humbling experience that we believe gets them involved hands-on in making a difference in the world around them.
The Maryland Center for Character Education
29 West Susquehanna Ave., Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21204Phone: 410-823-4902
Fax: 410-828-9661
E-Mail: MCCEcharacter@aol.com
