Character Education Livermore | Kelly Bowers Superintendent

Character Education Livermore by Kelly Bowers Superintendent of Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District

Our trustees unanimously approved a resolution designating October as Character Education Month. Throughout our district, we are offering a strong curriculum to teach and nurture our students’ development as caring, resilient, healthy learners who are fully equipped to succeed academically and as community members. In addition to the character education programs we have used for many years, we are very pleased to share our district-wide Framework for Success that will fully support students in our schools. The framework provides academic support, behavioral learning and support, and social emotional learning (SEL).

Last month in this newsletter, I introduced Choose Love, our social emotional curriculum. I encourage you to talk with your children about what courage means to them, and to you.

As we work through the Choose Love program together, I anticipate that we will all grow stronger and more connected.

With gratitude,

Kelly Bowers, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools

Choosing Love & Learning Courage

Our students and staff are learning to Choose Love each day. This month, many students are starting the process by learning and practicing courage – in interactions with each other and in the classroom.

At Smith Elementary School, Principal Joe Meunier, along with Smith’s student council, organized an assembly to explore the value of courage. He reminded students that their school mascot is named Courage the Cougar, and that to have pride in being a Smith Cougar or celebrating school spirit means recognizing and practicing courage. “You don’t need to always show courage in a big way,” he told his students. “You can show courage in a little way, too.” He pointed to examples of courage in such everyday instances as meeting new people, trying something different, and having the courage to try and to learn from mistakes. One or two students from each class were nominated by their teachers for displaying examples of courage, and will be invited to have lunch with the principal. Before sending students off to class, Meunier encouraged them all to, “take a chance, and stand up for something or someone.”

Granada High School’s Robin Taggart has created a Choose Love wall in her classroom – a collage of pictures and quotes provided by her students about what the character values mean to them. In her 10th and 12th grade English classes she is applying the Choose Love curriculum to her lessons, encouraging her students to identify courage in the novels they read. Her class noted that main characters often display courage in standing up for others or for what they believe. They found that a theme of many novels has been appreciating different perspectives – something they related to the goal of empathy in the Choose Love movement, as well as a quality of literature in general.

Source: https://kellybowerssuperintendent.com/
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