CHARACTER COUNTS!: Many schools have successfully implemented character development, but expanding it beyond the school to the district and community has eluded them. Lennox School District has become a model in this regard. How did you do it?
Carrie Ann Ortiz: With anything in life, what you do isn’t as important as how you do it. When something’s pushed down someone’s throat, especially a teacher’s, walls go up immediately. We didn’t want that to happen with CHARACTER COUNTS!. We needed the staff to want to infuse the Pillars. By going at it from the bottom-up rather than the top-down, it was embraced more willingly.

We also started a CC! District Leadership Committee where key leaders from each site meet quarterly to support each other, discuss district-wide implementation such as beginning a “Youth Character Awards” program, and motivate others who may be going at a slower pace. The committee includes representatives from the school-readiness centers, preschool, after-school program, and district office. Even with all the demands on us being Program Improvement schools, our leaders leave our meetings feeling motivated and excited. It’s a good reminder that we need to keep things in perspective and understand that our kids’ emotional and social health is as important as their academic learning.

CC!: You were one of Lennox’s three initial teachers to implement character development. What did you tackle first? What tips do you have for other pioneers?
Ortiz: After attending the three-day Character Development Seminar, I was anxious to begin infusing the language of the Pillars into my classroom, even though I was the only teacher doing it. I started out with classroom rules such as “Be responsible by arriving to class on time.” During each instructional unit, I focused on a different Pillar. I made sure to model good character not only in the classroom but throughout the school. Fellow teachers wouldn’t respect me if I talked about being responsible, yet showed up late to staff meetings.

As other teachers heard about the positive changes in our department, they became curious. By the end of the term, the staff decided to focus on character development the next year. One of the first things we did was look at what we wanted to see more of and less of from students. The things we most wanted to improve were character-based (do homework, stay on task, use appropriate language, be on time, have good manners). This created instant buy-in and support from our staff (well, almost all…is it ever possible to get 100%?). As a result, when we had staff in-services, they were supportive and understood why we were talking about the Pillars.

CC!: You say buy-in is never 100%. Your strategy is to focus only on the supporters because “the negative group will slowly diminish and become less vocal.” Is that often the case?
Ortiz: Definitely! As naysayers see positive things happening at the school, their negativity lessens. Just like with anything, you want to water the flowers, focus on the positive, and put that energy into those who are supportive. As that group becomes larger, the naysayers become less vocal. There will still be individuals who aren’t true advocates, but occasionally you’ll see a poster on their classroom wall or hear them being supportive. Those who are initially negative don’t realize they’re infusing the Pillars into their classrooms; they just don’t define it that way.

CC!: You’ve also said when your staff realized character development wasn’t just “a P.E. thing,” buy-in increased. How come?
Ortiz: The program really took off when all stakeholders became involved. Once we were consistent staff-wide in using the Pillar language, the kids realized character does count everywhere all the time. By using the same language, any adult or student can confront anyone about the choices they’re making and which Pillar they’re choosing not to model.

We recognize students during monthly “Pillar of the Month” assemblies by giving them a certificate, a gift (such as a Pillar bracelet), and cake and ice cream. School rules are re-written to include the language of the Pillars. Parent documents have the Pillars as a border. Time-out reflections ask kids to think about which Pillar they weren’t modeling.

CC!: When you say you get all stakeholders involved, you don’t mean just teachers, coaches, and administrators but custodians, cafeteria staff, bus drivers, etc. Why is this important?
Ortiz: The more the students hear the language of the Six Pillars, the more they get it. It takes a different lens when trying to help other stakeholders see their role, but once they realize they’re also teachers of character, they see things from a new perspective, too.

CC!: What’s more difficult – to implement a character-development framework in the first place or to sustain it in the long run?
Ortiz: Getting started is more difficult. There are so many things you’re responsible for, and the perception is that this is one more thing on an already overflowing plate. But once the staff realizes character development actually helps lessen the load on that overflowing plate, it becomes easier. Still, there are plateaus after you’ve done it for a while, and you have to be creative and make sure it stays fresh and exciting.

CC!: Lennox used to be a notorious gang-infested school, and the district is in an impoverished, ethnically diverse inner-city setting. How did you deal with these additional challenges?
Ortiz: They actually helped the staff, students, parents, and community because we all realized there’s a great need for character development. Everyone wants to have a safe community. The hard part is coordinating everyone’s schedules. Many parents work multiple jobs, business owners are always busy, and it’s difficult bringing everyone together. But once that happened, the community responded. The Sheriff’s Station, Fire Department, and library have hung banners and posters. And restaurants and the local supermarket have handed out information to customers.

CC!: One of your innovative concepts is a parent-education outreach program in which you train hundreds of parents in character development. How has that gone?
Ortiz: Our parents are very supportive and want as much information as we can give them. Our challenge is finding ways to get them to come to trainings when they have an even greater priority – finding enough work so they can feed their families and keep a roof over their head. Many have multiple jobs or are stay-at-home moms. So we provide childcare during trainings. Once the parents are in training, they’re fully engaged. Our challenge isn’t with parent support; it’s with time.

CC!: A key component of any character-development program is assessing its effectiveness. Your LCCP evaluation design is quite advanced. How did you arrive at this model, and how useful has it been?
Ortiz: Data has value. Data helps you see the areas of need so you know what direction to take and what to focus on. People want to know what works and how we’re making a difference. Oftentimes it’s difficult to measure positive changes like the tone of a campus. Ours is calmer and students are more polite, but those aren’t easily measured things.

We conduct staff surveys each year and look at student perspectives based on the California Healthy Kids Survey. We keep track of detentions, suspensions, expulsions, attendance, and test scores. Sometimes the best way is through before-and-after photographs. For example, we used to have a big problem with littering so we started a trash campaign focusing on what it means to be a good citizen. We first took pictures of key areas on the campus where trash accumulates. Then we launched the campaign. Afterward we took pictures of the same areas. There was a lot less trash.

CC!: Isn’t it true that disciplinary actions often increase rather than decrease after character-development programs are initiated? Can this discourage proponents of such a program?
Ortiz: Yes, sometime results look worse initially because the staff is being more consistent and holding students accountable for their actions. So don’t be surprised if it looks negative at first. In time, however, those results will begin to improve.

CC!: What do you say to schools that look at Lennox and say, “That’s all well and good, but we can’t do that here” or “We tried that and it didn’t work”?
Ortiz: Find a way to make things work based on your situation. Each school is unique; there is no one particular way to implement character development. The great thing about CC! is it’s a framework based on six values, so there’s great flexibility in making those Pillars a part of school culture. Starting small, from the bottom-up, worked well for us, but other schools might respond better from the top-down. Also, the more you can empower students to take the initiative, the better. They know how to make it fun and something they can relate to.

CC!: With all that you’ve done, what mistakes have you made and where does Lennox still need to improve?
Ortiz: One mistake was not collecting data prior to starting our initiative so we could compare the before and after. We didn’t begin to look at data until after we infused the Pillars. Beyond that, there are always things to improve. We need to continue to make CC! fresh and exciting and not let the pressures of being a Program Improvement school make us stress just academics and forget about character. What good is a school with a high API score if the students aren’t T.R.R.F.C.C.?

CC!: What was your most memorable experience during Lennox’s journey?
Ortiz: The first year I saw a big change in my students. They truly began to understand how their choices have an impact on their lives and those of others. At the end of the school year, I surveyed them about their experience. One question was, “What was the most important thing you learned in this class?” Ninety-six percent of the answers were character-related! I was amazed. I was teaching my standards-based curriculum, but what mattered most to them was being a person of good character.