Character Counts

I got to attend the Character Counts award assembly on Friday. This month's theme was 'fairness' and one of my boys was recognized for being fair!  Character education is required curriculum in California and different organizations offer different materials for it, the Seven Traits of Character being one of them. With all the weight put on kids, teachers, schools and districts to get those test scores up and meet NCLB, character education often gets left in the dust. Just ask Bernie Madoff's teacher. I was especially impressed with Principal Adriana Chavarin's presence and clear enjoyment of getting to reward PEC kids for their effort. To close the assembly, teachers joined in with students to do the character counts song. PEC then made the local news later in the day when students visited a tree sitter protecting a Tipu tree set for removal in Orpheus Park, a park much of the school community walks through and that classes visit regularly. The comments from the article in the UT are pretty funny. I was stoked my oldest son came home and said they got to sing some Dylan songs with Jru today. Time to bust out Dr. Seuss' Lorax for a reread.