The Counseling Office at the Jr/Sr High School recently wrapped up a five week Character Education Program facilitated by School Psychologist Tricia White and School Counselor Meghan Pepe titled “What You Do Matters”.
Students identified throughout the five weeks were:
Mackenzie Burdick, Madison Denue, Winter Exley, Larry Fletcher, Zoe Hannah, Devin Horn (Not pictured, Edward Hunt, Kendra Johnson, Michael Jones, Kristyn Kreutziger, Dylan Lambert, Brianna Lee (Not pictured), Megan Murdock, Waykn Murphy (Not pictured), Cheyenne Powell, Anthony Pryor, Katherine Saviano, Brianna Shuhart, Ethan Smith, Lindsey Smith, TJ Smith, Jocelyn Stalker (Not pictured), Emily Tinger, Jaden Tompkins, Isabella Toro, Sasha Truax (Not pictured) and Katie Wallace.
The Program was built in collaboration with Ms. Daus’ University Business class and The Counseling Office. As a part of a cross-curricular activity, students in Ms. Daus’ class were approached by Counseling Staff to develop a Character Education Program for grades 7-12. Two plans were developed and presented to Mrs. White, Ms. Pepe and Principal Matt Klafehn. Following the presentation of programs, the Counseling Staff adapted students’ ideas to best fit the school.
During the five weeks, different positive character traits (empathy, leadership, responsibility, courage, and respect) were targeted using an adaptation of the social media platform, Instagram. Each week, students that displayed the weekly character trait were highlighted on a bulletin board behind an Instagram cutout with a hashtag describing the trait they displayed.
Throughout the duration of the program, several students from all grade levels were recognized for exhibiting positive character traits. In addition to the weekly theme and recognition, Mrs. White and Ms. Pepe also pushed-in to middle school social studies classes taught by Ms. Sime to teach lessons regarding positive character traits, improving school climate, and practicing empathy. Each middle school student then made a post-it pledge of one positive behavior they would commit to at school and posted it to a bulletin board in the cafeteria.