Students in Libertyville School District 70 took time in the past school year to make a difference for some students in Alabama. They became concerned after a tornado leveled a school in Carbon Hill, Ala., last summer, right after a fire destroyed a high school there.
The Libertyville students, through a series of fundraisers, collected $7,500 to send to Carbon Hill to help buy new playground equipment. The students took interest in the students as the result of District 70 using a character education program.
In the 2001-02 school year, teachers began using the Character Counts! program at the district’s five schools. The program focuses on six points, or pillars, of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Cathy Jackson, an Adler Park guidance counselor who helps coordinate the district program, said the lessons about caring prompted the Libertyville students to help the Carbon Hills students.
“The Character Counts! program has helped us to create a collective conscience in District 70,” said Supt. Mark Friedman. “This means that students, staff and families have adopted the same philosophy as it pertains to the treatment of each other. We are more focused as to the consequences of our actions and are definitely much more considerate of our fellow students, staff members and families.”
The Alabama fundraiser was the second districtwide project that was developed through the Character Counts! program. Students also collected blankets for Project Linus, a nationwide effort to provide homemade blankets to critically ill and traumatized children.
Educators decided to start the Character Counts! program after Jackson and Cindy Flatebo, the director of curriculum, heard about it at a teachers workshop. Jackson said she liked the program because of its simplicity, which allows teachers to blend it into daily lessons. The program is offered by a not-for-profit organization called the Character Counts! Coalition, founded in 1993.
“It is kind of like our way of life,” Jackson said of Character Counts! in the district. “It is not something that is an add-on program. As an example, a teacher could be doing a math lesson, talking about giving change. The teacher may say, `What happens if the person behind the counter gives you too much change? What would a person of character do?'”
At Adler Park, the character program was a part of two activities in May. During an assembly where the band and choir played, students had reading parts in a program that talked about character issues, from how to be a good friend to living the Golden Rule. Additionally, 27 students participated in a “Wow Character Does Count” breakfast at the local McDonalds with principal Janet Brownlie. She hosts the monthly breakfast for about 25 to 30 students, who are honored for actions showing character.
Past winners have included students who helped a classmate who had an injury, such as a broken arm or a sprained ankle, by carrying books.
“The Character Counts! program provides a lot of outreach opportunities,” Brownlie said. “It makes children more aware of how to help other people.”
This year the students offered help to the residents of Winchester House, a Libertyville nursing home. They sent birthday cards, collected place mats, decorated doors at the home and planted flowers.
Teachers, Jackson said, can find items in current events to start lessons. During the war with Iraq this spring, the students wrote letters of support to the military and tied yellow ribbons around trees at the school.
“We talked about being proud of our country,” Brownlie said. “We talked about how people are serving our country and helping other people.”
