The U.S. Army Child & Youth Services (CYS) has formally partnered with CHARACTER COUNTS!, the country’s most widely-adopted character education framework!
"CHARACTER COUNTS! is the backbone of our CYS program," says TAPS Roger Williams at Fort Campbell. "The kids learn how to solve their own problems. This allows us to be educators and do fun and educational things with the children, and not just be problem solvers."
Mr. Williams emphasizes the similarity between the Six Pillars of Character and the Army Core Values, and says it quickly wins parental buy-in with CHARACTER COUNTS!.
"CHARACTER COUNTS! is a standard part of our kids' language," he says. "To measure how effective we are, we take a look at how much and how often we hear the kids use the language of CC!. It's not just the adults talking it. It's the kids talking it among each other."
The many activities include:
-
Courtesy Cards - Whenever a caregiver sees a child demonstrating a Pillar, he can give the child a courtesy card. On Fridays the children can use these cards as money at the store. Children between three and five can give courtesy cards to other kids.
-
Fill the Jar - Caregivers set a jar in a prominent place. Anytime a caregiver spots a child demonstrating a Pillar, the caregiver adds a marble the color of that Pillar to the jar. Children watch the level of the marbles slowly rise. When the jar is full, the kids can choose a celebration, such as a pizza party or ice cream social.
-
CHARACTER COUNTS! Week - The post celebrates CC! Week every year, with a calendar of activities for kids of all ages.
-
Operation Appreciation - To celebrate the Month of the Military Family, SAS and FCC children decorated gift bags for the gate guards. ACS helped fill the bags with goodies and the SAS children delivered them to the soldiers.
Character was also on showcase at Fort Campbell SAS during American Character Week 2002, on the first anniversary of 9/11. Each day CYS celebrated a different Pillar of Character, incorporating it fully into activities, and staff and children wore the color of that day's Pillar. Children also completed community service projects focusing on the Pillars of caring and citizenship. They collected food and donated it to Army Emergency Relief, sewed "Caring Bears" for youngsters in the Exceptional Family Member Program, made quilts for new mothers at a local hospital, and designed CHARACTER COUNTS! posters for schools and other facilities on the post. They also created a papier-mâché "Caring Hat" and filled it with happy thoughts. "When children are feeling down," says Mr. Williams, "they can go to the hat and read a happy thought."
