This week saw the return of Noalee McDonald Augustine and the return of Hill City High School students to the grade school. The topic of conversation: Caring.
This is our first year of implementing the Character Counts Character Education Program. We have divided the calendar by the six Character Counts Pillars, and February and March are designated for the character trait of Caring.
For each of the pillars, we’ve had character education expert Noalee McDonald Augustine, from the Smoky Hill Educational Service Center, come work with various groups of students and teachers. We also have scheduled a time during each of her visits to work with a group of high school students to prepare them to come work with grade school classes.
We followed this routine as we always have, and the high school kids came to our school a couple of days after Ms. McDonald-Augustine’s visit. They were divided into pairs, with one pair working at each grade level. At the younger levels, the kids created thank you cards for their teachers, parents, and others who care for them. The older grades participated in kinesthetic activities to reinforce the values of cooperation and teamwork.
The day went well and the students responded positively to the activities. However, in hindsight, I wonder if the day may have been even better if we had reversed the roles: had the grade school present to the high school. Because, if there is one character trait that our grade school students know backward and forward, it is the trait of Caring.
You need look no farther than the paper pillars we display in our main hall. The yellow of Respect and the green of Responsibility have almost filled their pillars. Finding examples of Trustworthiness, Fairness, and Citizenship have been harder to come by.
But the red of the Caring Pillar is spilling over the top. It was the first pillar to fill and is full of excellent examples of good character.
Cade shared his glue. Brecken told Maggie her hair was pretty. Carrie helped Isabella. Joshua caught Mrs. K being caring. The soccer players let new kids play. Tara opened the door for everybody. Zach helped a younger student button their coat. Mason shows caring by giving hug. Arik helped a friend turn to the correct page in music. Olivia gave her teacher a Kleenex so she could keep reading to the class. I took a friend to see the nurse. When Claire fell down, I helped her up. Gabreal saw Shaelyn helping someone at recess. Seth always asks his teacher how her lunch was. The fifth grade band helped Autumn ifnd her ligature for her clarinet. Lillie helped a classmate with math. Nicole brought gave her coat to someone who didn’t have one. Adam got books off a high shelf that no one else could reach. The school nurse shows caring by making sure we are okay.
And on and on. That giant red pillar is a testament to the biggest hearts in our littlest students. While I know the kids enjoyed the presentations on Caring, while it was certainly worthwhile, next year we might just mix things up.
We might just have our youngest tell our oldest about the whole lot of caring that goes on at HCES.
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