We offer a variety of outstanding professional development workshops. Dynamic CHARACTER COUNTS! trainers deliver each of the following interactive professional development workshops in person or online. You can also bring an CHARACTER COUNTS! Assembly to your school.
In addition to offering workshops customized to your school or organization, we offer workshops that are open to individuals and small groups.
For more information or to receive a quote, contact us at customerservice@charactercounts.org, 515-271-1910, or submit an online training request.
This workshop focuses on the fundamentals of CHARACTER COUNTS!, including:
why it’s important to identify the values of the Six Pillars of Character,
our TEAM approach to character education, and
the Four Keys method to help students achieve their potential.
Best for: Educators and administrators who want to learn the basics.
Length: Half-day plus a one-hour follow-up via phone/video call.
Learn the fundamentals of CHARACTER COUNTS! and engage in hands-on activities that can be transferred into your classroom, school, or organization. We’ll cover these key components:
Plus, we’ll discuss how to implement our research-based instructional strategies.
Best for:
Length: 1 Day
In addition to teaching CHARACTER COUNTS! fundamentals and best teaching practices, our team will help participants create a customized implementation plan. Topics include:
Plus, participants will
Best for:
Length: 2 Days
Character Champion Workshop offers a comprehensive, theoretical exploration of CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character.
Participants will be introduced to:
Participants will also craft an implementation plan to share with others in their building or district.
Best for: Faculty/staff that will be responsible for teaching CHARACTER COUNTS! to other team members.
Length: 2 Days
This workshop is for schools that have been using the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework, but would like to orient new staff to the program. It can also serve as a refresher for existing staff. This session is customizable to incorporate any existing processes and best practices currently used at your school. Participants will learn what CHARACTER COUNTS! is, why character development and culture shaping matter, and how they can Teach, Enforce, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars of Character.
The one-day session will also explore teaching best practices, and help participants understand their role in implementing CHARACTER COUNTS!
Best for: New faculty and staff
Length: Half Day or 1 Day
Designed for early childhood educators, this workshop explores the skills needed to enhance the social and emotional growth of the early childhood classroom. Early childhood educators will walk away with tools and strategies to implement a high-quality character development initiative for young children. These resources are easily integrated into the social and emotional curriculum of the early childhood classroom.
At least one Early Childhood kit must be purchased for this training, as the resources contained in the kit will supplement the training. Early Childhood kits may be purchased for $199 per kit.
Best for: Early childhood educators
Length: Half-day or full day
Families are a child’s first and most important character educators. It is important for schools to work more collaboratively with families in raising children.
Staff Workshop
This workshop will give educators tools to gain family support towards the school’s efforts to promote good character. It will also include successful engagement activities and strategies on how to deal with challenging parents.
Family Workshop
This workshop focuses on increasing positive family engagement in the education of their children. The workshop equips families with tools and strategies to use at home to support the school’s CC! efforts. Families will learn how to encourage and model the Six Pillars of Character at home, especially in challenging situations. If requested, the parent sessions may also address managing the behaviors of at-risk youth.
Best for: Families and educators
Length: Two hours or half-day
Athletics and activities provide an exceptional opportunity to teach students character skills and practice those character skills in a meaningful way.
Character skills like work ethic, teamwork, leadership, and integrity contribute to the short-term success of the athlete and team and the long-term development and success of the individual.
In this workshop, participants will learn strategies to coach the Six Pillars in athletics and activities by turning values into behaviors, as well as develop implementation plans to Teach, Encourage, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars of Character on their teams.
This workshop includes Pursuing Victory With Honor Playbook resources at no additional cost.
Best for: Coaches and athletic directors
Length: Half-day or full day
A community’s culture shapes the character and behavior of the individuals living in that community. Communities should work to create their community’s culture with intentionality.
In this workshop, participants will learn how to create a CHARACTER COUNTS! Community Coalition to help build a community that reflects the Six Pillars of Character.
Participants will learn:
Best for: Community volunteers, school faculty and staff
Length: Two-hour or half-day
This workshop provides an overview of current research and best practices to recognize symptoms and effectively assist students with various behavioral and learning challenges including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Anxiety Disorder (ASD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), and other emotional or behavioral challenges.
The workshop will demonstrate and teach the proper use of fidgets, a proven effective strategy to provide sensory input, assist with anxiety, concentration, and the ability to listen and self-soothe. Also, participants will learn proven Cognitive Behavioral Therapeutic methods to teach youth how to use positive self-talk and dispute cognitive distortions. Participants will also learn other vital relaxation skills such as deep breathing, positive mental imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation. Other components included are truancy training, including cultural competency and socioeconomic awareness, and diversity.
Best for: Faculty and staff who work with students with behavioral or learning challenges
Length: Two-hour or half-day
Stress levels are impacting our educators and students and an increased rate. We offer support through professional development to help schools address these challenges.
This interactive session emphasizes the new science of stress management with a focus on awareness, mindset, actions, and reflection. Participants will engage with research-based strategies to build their own stress management plan in order to overcome the challenges they face in their own life and as leaders.
The program can be customized to focus on personal stress management and/or team stress management.
Length: 90-minute or half-day
A community culture built around the Six Pillars of Character can positively impact community members and encourage civility among citizens. If communities want to work together with civility, then they must promote civil behaviors like seeking to understand, win-win negotiation, and building connections. In this session, participants will learn strategies to shape a culture of civility in their community by demonstrating civility in their own lives and create a personalized civility plan to help guide their actions in challenging situations.
Participants will:
Length: Two-hour or half-day
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2702 Forest Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50311
515-271-1910
RayCenter@Drake.edu
