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.

NOVEMBER

This month's Best Practices is from an award winning school from 2005-2006.

 

BEST CHARACTER EDUCATION PRACTICES

 

School: Easton Elementary-Moton Building

Address: 307 Glenwood Avenue, Easton MD 21601
Principal: David Stofa

          
Phone: 410-822-0686
E-Mail: dstofa@tcps..k12.md.us

             

Title of Best Practice: Moton’s BEST

Primary Character Trait(s) Emphasized: Six Pillars of Character - Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship

 

Objective:

Moton's BEST - Be responsible for keeping self to self; Everyone is respected; Students will follow directions; Time is spent on productive learning.

Brief Description:

• Easton Elementary School – Moton believes that character education is a vital ingredient for the success of young people in today’s society. Staff and students use the common language of the Six Pillars of Character. This reflects in their school wide rules.

• Every morning a character message is delivered over the announcements by a student. The student writes the message based on one of the Six Pillars and then it is approved by the teacher.
  
• All classrooms have a trained volunteer known as a Character Coach that visits each week for 15 minutes with a character message, activity, story, etc. that reflects on the Pillar of the Month.
  
• There have been an increased number of service projects including in-school recycling of paper and plastic. The year-end count for plastic bottles was 95,516. Because of this project, two students decided to start a recycling project in their neighborhood.
  
• A Character Club was started this year. This group of students (grades 1-5) met weekly before school to discuss good character; participate in activities and learn from guest speakers. Some speakers included the Talbot Humane Society and the Easton Police Department.
  
• School wide community activities included collecting money for the Katrina victims; collecting “Pennies for Fred” – a memorial to honor Frederick Douglas; a mitten/hat/scarf tree – students brought in winter accessories for needy children in the school which were distributed before the Christmas holiday and students collected school supplies to send to Woodmere Elementary School in Louisiana (a school destroyed by Hurricane Katrina).
  
• Every student is given a Character Counts agenda book at the beginning of the school year. The purpose of the agenda book is for recording homework, upcoming activities, parent communication, etc.
  
• Many students made “Valentines for Veterans” and these cards were sent to a veterans’ hospital in Maryland.
  
• The Media Center hosts a “Character Counts Corner” where books based on character are available for staff, students and parents to enjoy.
  
• Each month, school newsletters are sent home that include character messages and “Character Talk”, CCMS newsletter is sent home with every students three times a year.
  
• The school displays the Six Pillars of Character in classrooms, hallways, nurse’s room, cafeteria and gymnasium.
  
• Easton Elementary School-Moton is clearly a School of Outstanding Character!

 

 

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The Maryland Center for Character Education
29 West Susquehanna Ave., Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21204

Phone: 410-823-4902
Fax: 410-828-9661
E-Mail: MCCEcharacter@aol.com