20 Oct 2003
Teachers, Students Participate in Character Counts! Week Activitiesx
DALLAS—Schools and departments of the Dallas Independent School District are combining learning and caring with a celebration of Character Counts! Week activities, October 20 – 24.
Coordinated by the DISD Safe and Drug Free Schools department, the focus of Character Counts! Week is to celebrate what is happening throughout the year in character education, and provide opportunities for reinforcing the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, fairness, caring and citizenship.
DISD Superintendent Mike Moses said character education can have a very positive impact in the overall academic experience of the students. "As a school district we realize that part of our mission is to educate the future leaders of our community, but also to prepare better citizens for Dallas, trustworthy and responsible human beings for the world," he said.
A proclamation from the city of Dallas, naming Character Counts! Week, salutes DISD's efforts to strengthen the character of the Dallas area community and its citizens in making character development a priority in educating the city's future leaders.
At events in the district's eight areas, one professional staff and one paraprofessional staff member from each of the 218 schools will be recognized as outstanding role models, reflecting the Principles of Public Service in their day-to-day interactions with coworkers, students and parents.
•At the Wyndham Anatole, 2 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21, more than 1,000 DISD campus instructional leaders will enjoy a character education renewal with Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the nationally recognized Character Counts! Coalition. The author of You Don't Have to Be Sick to Get Better, Josephson will discuss with teachers the power of character. The event will include a performance by the award-winning Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Jazz Combo, and presentations to 24 DISD schools exhibiting strong commitment to embracing character education across the curriculum.
• Nathan Adams Elementary School will celebrate by posting a Wall of Great Character with the names of students and staff identified as having been caught "doing something good." Throughout the week, students will read books such as The Frog Prince, Androcles and the Lion, and Paul Revere's Ride and discuss the character traits that are reflected. Classes will discuss King, Ghandi, Thoreau, Cesar Chavez and their methods of peaceful resistance as opposed to violence. Adams is located at 12600 Welch Rd.
•Continuing a series for DISD employees other than teachers, a workshop at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Nolan Estes Plaza, will review the relationship between the Principles of Public Service and the pillars of Character Counts! Participants will understand expectations employees should have for themselves and each other within the framework of character education in the school district.
Also on Wednesday at 10 a.m., James Madison High School will host a panel discussion on character with County Commissioner John Wiley Price and members of the organization 100 Black Men. The school is located at 3000 Martin Luther King Blvd.
•James Bonham Elementary School students and staff will be honored by the Character Counts! Coalition of North Texas at the Dallas Rotary meeting, scheduled for noon Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Union Station. The school was chosen for its schoolwide commitment of students, staff and teachers to live and learn each day using the six pillars of character.
• Students, faculty and staff at Walnut Hill Elementary School will focus on caring and respect this week. They begin their annual school service project, collecting items for children served by the Family Place.
• Boude Storey Middle School students collaborated on their own special method of spotlighting the six pillars of character. They videotaped portrayals of the traits, which will be broadcast each day during the televised morning announcements.
• "We Are Family" will be the theme for the week at John F. Kennedy Learning Center, 1802 Moser St. A huge bulletin board will display self-awareness sketches and family pictures made by students.
What is TRRFCC? If you don't know, attend an assembly with the Harlem Globetrotters. As part of Character Counts! Week coordinated by P.R.O. Kids Ambassadors, members of the Globetrotters will visit 30 DISD elementary schools, reinforcing the six pillars by involving students in skits.
• On Friday, Oct. 24, more than 2,500 students from 28 middle schools will participate in the Building Students With Character Rally, scheduled from 9:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Loos Field House, 3815 Spring Valley Rd. At the rally, the Harlem Globetrotters will combine relevant character education with ball handling wizardry culminating in a game between the "pros" and DISD middle school basketball coaches.
For information about the week's activities, call (214) 932-5312.