Character Counts! Activities
Character Counts! or Student Assistance Program
Sample Activities at Union Schools
- Morning announcements commend students for showing character.
- Posters and banners displaying the "Six Pillars of Character" are displayed throughout the school.
- Quotations about character are placed on school marquees.
- Monthly assemblies reward students for the previous month’s theme and introduce the next month’s theme; the programs feature songs and skits by teachers, principals and students.
- "Character Bucks" bearing the likeness of principals’ faces are distributed to award good behavior; "Caught Showing (Trait)" entries are entered in drawings for rewards.
- Courtesy tables allow select students to lunch with the principal.
- Prizes are donated for Intermediate High School students who receive "Character Bucks."
- T-shirts, pencils, stickers, posters and buttons are among prizes awarded elementary students.
- Teachers who model character are awarded special posters for classroom display.
- In one school, two students at each grade level who have shown good character during the month dine at a local restaurant where a special table is set aside for the students and their families. Each student receives a free meal and has their picture displayed during the month.
- Display cases, bulletin boards and door decorations depict pillars of the month.
Student and faculty committees are formed to address student life issues centered around Character Counts! - Book characters, historical figures and current event individuals are highlighted as examples of "good" or "bad" character.
- Rules are enforced around the pillars of character.
- Art, music and speech contests feature Character Counts!
- Reading and writing assignments center around the pillars of character.
- Newsletters from Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) highlight monthly character traits for parents.
- Articles in district-wide publications emphasize Character Counts! activities around the district.
- Peer mediation is based around pillars of character.
- Words emphasizing character traits are included in weekly spelling lists.
- "Caring" projects within each school help the needy with food, clothing and gifts.
