“On behalf of the Carroll High School staff, I would like to thank you for an amazing session of learning with you. My staff is still talking about your presentation and we are thankful for the resources. We were told you would be amazing and you did not let us down! I will be in touch for future opportunities, thank you!”
-Tammie McKenzie, Carroll High School (Carroll, IA)
“The school climate at Hamlin Park has been transformed because of the BPSD/CITRS/CHARACTER COUNTS! initiative. We grew from a school on the verge of being shut down to a school in good standing; a school operating in fear to a school operating on positivity and hope; and a climate of compassion, caring, respect, and responsibility that is embraced school-wide by teachers, staff, students, and all who enter. Hamlin Park is now a school to be proud of, a school that is helping to embrace students of character! None of this would have been possible without the CC! program – thank you, CHARACTER COUNTS!”
-Lauren Hackett, Hamlin Park Academy (Buffalo, NY)
I am a great fan of the CHARACTER COUNTS! online workshop and training programs. The insightful materials are professionally delivered and the concepts are easy to grasp and put into action. I found the two introductory sessions I attended motivating, engaging, and truly inspiring. Overall, they markedly exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend CHARACTER COUNTS! to educators looking to positively impact their school or youth organization by instilling strong values (and the habits to maintain them) into their students and faculty alike. My heartfelt thanks to the CHARACTER COUNTS! team at Drake University!”
-Bill Bahr, Bloomingdale CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition (Bloomingdale, IL)
“Our school has done an incredible job weaving the Six Pillars of Character into all aspects of the school’s culture, routine, and academics. Teachers use the Six Pillar traits, lessons, and CHARACTER COUNTS! app to create a common understanding and language to positively influence the climate of the building.
The students at West Hertel Academy proudly recite and pledge to be Kids of Character daily and, over the past three years, have internalized those words and now feel a sense of responsibility and commitment to demonstrating the Six Pillars of Character through their words and actions.”
– LaFraya Wilson, Assistant Principal, West Hertel Academy (Buffalo, NY)
“This program has been central to our Tier 1 activities and programming. Integrating the language into our building has helped students to recognize that their actions affect others and made them more accountable.”
– Amber Nigro, South Park High School, Buffalo, NY
“CHARACTER COUNTS! works for our students because it provides consistency, yet it is a system that allows us to go deeper each year as students age. It offers a nice balance between having consistent expectations but allows for us to use materials for any situation. Students know the character Pillars within their first week of school in kindergarten. We continue to teach lessons, discuss, and demonstrate these character traits throughout their education while allowing for those discussions to become more complex as students develop. CHARACTER COUNTS! has thousands of practical and relevant lessons, discussion topics, videos, and other resources for educators to use. These resources are right at our fingertips and they are highly engaging for kids. CHARACTER COUNTS! isn’t just something we do on the side. It’s the center of everything we do!”
-Trevor Urich, Principal, Broadway Elementary (Denison, IA)
“I have noticed a remarkable difference in the culture of our building since our implementation of CHARACTER COUNTS! at Harvey Austin 3 years ago. Character development and the Six Pillars of Character really have begun to shape everything we do. Not only is specific time built into our schedule every day to focus on character development, but it is integrated into every classroom and every hallway, all day, with the way we talk to each other, the way we treat each other, and the relationships that we build.”
– Cassandra Gasbarrini, Assistant Principal, Harvey Austin Elementary/Middle School (Buffalo, NY)
“I was so impressed with engagement during this lesson. Each student got a whiteboard and wrote the emotion they were feeling. This was good for us because it gave them something to do with their hands and activated prior knowledge. We have done a TON with emotion identification in ourselves and others. I spent several weeks working through the process of empathy. When students got up to the board they told us about their emotions and their “because statement.” Example: “Today, I feel loved because my mom took me to my physical this morning, and that means I get to play basketball.” Each student had a real-life example of something on that day, that helped explain their emotion.
-Bethany Short, teacher, Cardinal Middle School (Eldin, IA)
“Lewis Elementary School has recognized CHARACTER COUNTS! for many years. We create a full list of activities to promote the Six Pillars of Character with our team of teachers, students, and parents. Celebrating CC! Week has such a positive impact throughout our school and it is amazingly great for our school culture. Our students and staff have so much fun participating. We truly look forward to this week every year!”
-Allison Box, Principal, Lewis Elementary (Downey, CA)
“We wanted to ensure our students had a competitive advantage on and off the field. We developed Jayhawk Foundations base on The ESSENTIALS modules. We have seen a great increase in our positive sportsmanship, a decrease in character issues in the classroom and on the field, and an overall emphasis on character development.”
-Dr. Bill Watson, Athletic Director, Urbandale High School (Urbandale, IA)