Character Education Is a Community Effort
The character education logo -- a red apple sliced open to reveal the Wake County schools' eight character traits -- provided the seed for a new logo, the asset tree. The tree is filled with apples bearing the eight character traits, and is rooted in the community.
The Character Education Task Force that helped establish the initiative in schools has given way to the Character Education Community Involvement Committee, a group working to maintain and expand character education efforts into the community.
"Some of the members represent such diverse groups as Wake County Health and Human Services, Wake County 4-H, Raleigh Parks and Recreation. We have representatives from the faith community, the business community, from government agencies, from juvenile justice," said Anne Lee, Wake County Schools character education consultant. "They come from all over the county and they are so excited about the potential this initiative has in impacting young people and making a difference to the entire community. So they work very, very hard."
One member of the committee is Carol Moore of Raleigh Parks and Recreation, which carried the character education message to thousands of children taking part in summer programs this year.
"We wanted to piggyback on what the Wake County Schools were doing so effectively," Moore said. "We wanted to make sure the children we had during the summer were getting the same consistent message."
Raleigh parks staff developed a packet of information on each of the Wake County Schools' character traits and sent a different one home with children in the summer playground program each week. The parks' "wisdom wizards" led a reading program that emphasized character education and used books selected from the Wake County Schools' character education book list. The parks' afterschool staff took part in character education training. Moore said they also trained some of the coaches in the Raleigh Police Department basketball league for teens.
"If you don't make a connection for the children in the classroom or playground, it may not happen," Moore said. "It's too important to leave to chance."
Cary has begun its own character education initiative, Creating Assets, Reaching Youth, or CARY. Lt. Chris Hoina of the Cary Police Department's Youth Services team took part in some of the Wake County Schools' meetings and supports his city's effort.
"My interest as a police officer was to do something to help in the reduction of crime," Lt. Hoina said. "My contention is our potential criminals are sitting in today's classrooms and my question is, is there something we can do about that?"
Cary police are in the schools. They provide school resource officers in all the city's middle and high schools. Officers lead discussions in schools using a curriculum called "Teens, Crime and the Community." Hoina said officers also provide education and prevention materials to students about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.
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After attending a forum sponsored by the Character Education Community Involvement Committee where Dr. Peter Benson spoke on giving kids what they need to succeed, Hoina said he was impressed with Benson's idea that all children in all communities can be healthier if they have positive experiences and qualities, or what Benson calls developmental assets. Hoina said that view differs from current juvenile crime efforts geared toward identifying the negative traits of children at risk in a community.
Cary has provided funds to move the city's character education initiative forward. And Cary joined Wake Forest and Holly Springs in seeking and receiving a Duke Endowment grant for positively impacting youth.
While president of the Parent, Teacher and Student Organization at Broughton High, Joy Schwentker helped organize character education programs at the school. She served on the original Wake County Schools' character education task force and is part of the Community Involvement Committee. Schwentker co-chairs a panel that plans to encourage student-led character education summits at Wake County high schools.
"It's the most important thing that we should be teaching our children," Schwentker said. "They will learn to read and write, but if they don't learn how to be good citizens, then we all pay for it."
Character education has helped communities focus on what they can do to help children grow into good citizens. The six-year-old effort in the Wake County Schools has encouraged partners in the community.
"The school system is definitely a catalyst to this whole process. We demonstrated to many people that it is not only possible, but that it is desirable for people from all segments of the community to come together and on a consensus basis determine what is in the best interest of their young people. We did that when we selected those eight character traits," said Lee. "What we're saying is that instead of all of us working in isolation, doing our own thing and having our own vocabulary, let's have a common vocabulary. Let's share ideas. Let's read off the same page so that all our efforts are coordinated and our impact will be multiplied. And that's what we're seeing happen."