Character Education

The 2013 Wellness Promotion Policy Annual Report

The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida

Student Intervention Services - Character Education

Character Education enhances the wellness of the whole child by promoting good decision making skills and positive behaviors in students. Student Intervention Services coordinated all Character Education efforts for the District to support the unfunded state mandate that requires all schools to teach Character Education in grades K-12. By providing curricula, materials, and other resources, Student Intervention Services assisted the schools efforts in building character in each individual and the entire school.

In 2002, the State of Florida passed a non-funded mandate that character education must be taught in all grades K-12. The School District adopted six pillars of character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Fairness and Citizenship.

The character ethic, which I believe to be the foundation of success, teaches that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.

Stephen Covey

Preparing Students for Productive Employment

Character education addresses District Goal 8: To provide experiences that prepare students for productive employment by focusing on ethics and responsible citizenship. The work of Student Intervention Services culminated in the Character Counts! Year End Celebration. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the district schools were publicly recognized for displaying outstanding character.

Ethics in Action – Your Character Counts! was introduced this school year to showcase the efforts of high schools to teach students ethics in action. Middle and elementary schools continued using character education materials and lessons to support the Character Counts! initiatives.

The First High School Ethics Bowl was held on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at Forest Hill Community High School. Thirteen teams from eight high schools competed;

default_titleAtlantic Community High
default_titleBoynton Beach Community High
default_titleJohn I. Leonard High
default_titleLake Worth Community High
default_titlePalm Beach Gardens Community High
default_titleRoyal Palm Beach Community High
default_titleSantaluces Community High
default_titleWilliam T. Dwyer High
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The teams debated ethical dilemmas before a panel of four judges and one moderator. These judges and moderator consisted of community and business leaders, former school board members and school district personnel. After three rounds of competition, the teams from Atlantic Community High and Lake Worth Community High Team #2, had garnered the highest point totals to move on to the final round. The final round of the Ethics Bowl Competition was held on Tuesday, May 1, 2011, at the Duncan Theatre, Palm Beach State College during the afternoon and preceded the Character Counts! Year End Celebration event scheduled for that evening.

After a lively debate on two very timely issues, Facebook Privacy and Cell Phone Tracking, Lake Worth Community High Team #2 was proclaimed as the winner. Sponsorship from the Center for Applied Ethics at Palm Beach State College awarded the students with scholarships and plaques for all participating teams.

8th Annual Ethics In Action Your Character Counts! Year End Celebration recognizes students…

In the 2011-2012 school year, the Ethics in Action - Your Character Counts! Year End Celebration, was held on May 1, 2012 at the Duncan Theatre, Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, this event recognized 46 students from across the District: 15 from the Central Area; 9 from the North Area; 12 from the South Area and 10 from the West Area.

In this school year, participation in the Student Recognition Program increased in all levels except elementary. The focus this school year was to:

default_titleEncourage schools to recognize their students of character
default_titleCelebrate their accomplishments
default_titleNominate them for the year end celebration
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Several schools implemented their own recognition program for students and staff and will continue their efforts to do so. Overall, 42% of all schools participated in this recognition program.

Character Education Student Recognition Participation Program:

SY 2008-2009

SY 2009-2010

SY 2010-2011

SY 2011-2012

Elementary

71%

62%

47%

39%

Middle

70%

58%

40%

58%

High

48%

61%

39%

48%

ESE

100%

Charter

13%

17%

An integral part of this initiative is communication between Student Intervention Services and the School Character Coaches. Initiatives this school year included, but are not limited to: Auto-B Good; Buddy Wins Character Program; Newspapers in Education (NIE) partnerships with the Palm Beach Post and SunSentinel for grades 3 and 6-12; Character Education through Literacy; SEL Media Life Stories; and CONNECT™ with Kids. Through extensive school and community collaboration, Student Intervention Services was able to hold a celebratory awards event at the end of the school year, monthly recognition awards, and Students of Character Stories in the SunSentinel.

In addition, an online course was offered to all instructional staff on Restoring School Civility. This 60 in-service point course is based on the book by Dr. Philip Vincent. The course emphasizes the need for school civility and encourages participants to develop classroom and school management plans that include Single School Culture. A total of 22 teachers and other instructional staff completed the Restoring School Civility online course this 2011-2012 school year. Since the course premiered online in the Fall of 2007, 237 school educators and other instructional staff have completed it. The course is offered two times per year: Fall and Spring.

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

Potter Stewart