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Teaching kids character
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, January 30, 2006
While Pittsburgh television meteorologist Dennis Bowman spoke to kids in Kiski Area schools, other speakers have taken the message of character education to students in Monessen and Mt. Pleasant, among other places.
Speakers like Bowman have addressed students at more than 300 schools.
In between his basketball spinning moves and the "oohs" and "aahs" of the high school audience, Charlie Aeschliman made time to send a message.
"Each one of you has your own dreams, your own ability, your own talents," Aeschliman, a former Navy SEAL, told Ligonier Valley High School students at an assembly. "You're not going to achieve any of your goals by just wishing.
"Good character is taking steps in the right direction along the way; doing the right thing at the right time even if nobody else is watching. That's called integrity."
Aeschliman's speech - delivered while he performed amazing basketball tricks to a musical beat - is called character education.
Teaching kids the basics of good character - from avoiding drugs and alcohol to respecting themselves and others - is not a new thing.
But character education programs and curricula have become more prevalent in recent years.
"What I hear a lot, and I think most everyone will say, these were the areas that you would teach at home, behavioral issues," said David Rettig, founder of the National Character Education Foundation based in Zelienople, Butler County. "My father, if I got punished for something at school, I would get punished at home."
But Rettig said times have changed.
"Today there's a breakdown, and the breakdown isn't in one particular place," Rettig said. "It's not just the family. There is just so much vying for the time of our kids."
Video games. Television. Peer pressure.
All of it, Rettig said, contributes to a breakdown of values.
Three years ago, he started his foundation to combat those problems. He has brought speakers like Aeschliman to more than 300 school buildings in Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.
Speakers have been in schools in Monessen and Mt. Pleasant. Former Pittsburgh television meteorologist Dennis Bowman spoke to kids in Kiski Area schools earlier this school year.
Rettig said his foundation is now planning to work on training students to be peer mentors.
Despite the recent interest in character education programs, Rettig said there are just not enough programs out there.
"In this day and age it's just too much for one group to handle. Collaboration is important," Rettig said. "Schools are asked to do so much more than reading and math and science. They are asked to be a parent. And they shouldn't have to do that."
Ron Baldonieri, principal at Ligonier Valley High School, said character education has become more important.
"Everything has intensified because of the high rate of accountability that schools find themselves under right now," Baldonieri said. "If you have students misbehaving then they're not learning. ... The emphasis on developing good character goes hand in hand with academic performance."
The school's Renaissance Committee was formed several years ago to promote appropriate behavior as well as school spirit.
"Our theme this year has to do with making decisions for the future now," Baldonieri said.
That's why Aeschliman was invited to speak.
Schools use other outside groups to help with character education.
ParentWise in Greensburg offers a Bee Kind curriculum in day care centers and elementary schools.
Mary Ellen Tiberio, parent educator for ParentWise, said students read and discuss stories on kindness and respect. They get stickers and other tokens to remind them to be kind.
"We talk about what it means to be kind," Tiberio said. "We talk about what kind acts have been done by the children."
Some schools in the Penn-Trafford School District have been participating in a national program called Mix It Up.
Trafford elementary and middle school students participated in a Mix It Up Day recently. Penn Middle School students will do the same soon.
Trafford guidance counselor Vanessa Baugh said the program focuses on tolerance. Kids interacted with kids they normally didn't hang around with.
"The theme was breaking down the walls," Baugh said.
They talked about what students can do to stop bullying. One class put paper shapes together into a quilt "showing how different things fit together and can be unified," Baugh said.
Despite the popularity, there is no statewide curriculum or initiative regarding character education. And there is no funding.
"It's certainly a program area that we would encourage school districts to partake in," said Brian McDonald, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. "We would offer them guidance as to local independent agencies that could certainly assist in offering any type of programs geared towards character education."
And while some schools use speakers or curriculum from outside groups, others come up with internal programs.
R.K. Mellon Elementary School in Ligonier formed a committee three to four years ago to develop a character education program, Principal Diane Ravis said.
"We didn't want to buy a canned program or anything like that so it's worked really well," Ravis said.
Every year, the committee picks a different theme. This year it's STAR -- Stop, Think, Act and Review.
Each classroom teacher nominates one student a month for the award. Prizes include a T-shirt, being honored at an assembly and a pizza party with Ravis.
Along with the Pledge of Allegiance, students say a school pledge every morning. They pledge to respect others and do their best every day.
"We have reduced the number of discipline problems in the building," Ravis said. "I can tell you I don't see nearly the number of students that I used to."
At Yough Middle School, staff members started an anti-bullying program and after school club called CAST -- Character Always Stands Tall.
Kids get involved in community service projects and other activities, said teacher Barb Rebon.
"We try to instill (good character) in them and get them involved," Rebon said. "It's not just for kids that are bullied and made fun of, but kids who just want to make a difference in school."
Rebon said she believes character education is an important aspect of teaching.
"We're instilling skills that you're going to take with you into your high school and into your college and into your life," Rebon said. "It's just about everyday human values and respect for other people. Education, in my opinion, is not just about the academics."
Jennifer Reeger can be reached at jreeger@tribweb.com or (724) 836-6155.