The commitments of a school/district to be recognized as a "School/District of Character" by the Idaho Character Council fall under two categories.

I. “School/District of Character”  Commitments - Commitments of leaders/staff to champion character building in themselves, their students, and their students' families.

II. “Model School/District of Character”  Commitments - Commitments designed to help carry out the objective of "Creating a Culture of Character" within each school/district.
 

I. “School/District of Character”  Commitments

1. Commitment from the leader (Superintendent for District or Principal for School) to champion monthly character development within their jurisdiction by modeling and practicing themselves and setting up an accountability system (ex. Committees within schools) to make sure that implementation is occurring.
2. Commitment from staff (teachers, cafeteria, bus drivers, etc.) to personally practice the Character Qualities, for it is through their modeling it and engaging the students that change will occur.
3. Commitment from staff to creatively bring character into the classroom creating a "Culture of Character" by which the students live/work by. Staff will be encouraged to attend the monthly breakfast regarding this subject that will be offered frequently in Coeur d’Alene.
4. Commitment by the leader and staff to involve parents in the effort to encourage good character.

II. “Model School/District of Character”  Commitments
Note: The Character Quality of the Month mentioned in the following can be substituted for whatever curricula and frequency is being implemented by the organization. (Ex. Character Counts, Citizenship programs, weekly, bimonthly, quarterly, etc.)

Initial

1. Once a school/district has set forth the personal commitments, they will pass a resolution through their board to tangibly show these commitments. Sample resolutions are available through the Character Council, but should be tailored to mirror the specific commitments of the organization.
2. A plan to carry out these commitments will be distributed to staff in a faculty handbook or other item of similar magnitude.
3. A committee/committees will be set up within the school/schools to champion the effort and report progress and ideas back to the superintendent/principal and Character Council.
4. Parents will be informed through a newsletter of the commitments that have been made and invited to participate and work with staff.

Monthly

    5.   Monthly staff meetings will include a discussion of the Character Quality of the Month.

1. Definition
2. Applicability to their personal lives and their students' lives
3. Benefits of developing the quality
4. Testimonies
5. Brainstorming session on how to creatively implement change with the quality

6. Staff will make an effort to develop a habit of mention or activity related to the Character Quality daily or weekly. They should through brainstorming have many different ideas through which they can encourage good character in their classrooms.

7. Establish a system of praising for character, both in the classroom and/or at an assembly, significant point in the semester, etc. (Verbal recognition is extremely powerful and entices other students to follow example. Certificates are also an excellent way of doing this.)

8. Schools will display audio/visually the Character Quality of the Month in order to keep it fresh in the minds/hearts of the staff and students, in some or all of the following ways:

1. Posters
2. T-shirts
3. Creative Artwork done by students
4. Display cases
5. Marquees
6. Buttons
7. Announcements
8. Homeroom
9. Skits
10. Flyers/Memos

*The following are ideas and not intended to be exclusive.
*Can be written or designed by students

Other

9. Purchase bulletins, pocket guides or other resources for teachers that parallel the character qualities or curricula. These materials provide ideas to help implement character in the classroom.

10. Purchase character family books for staff, families, or libraries. The books can be ordered for as little as $7.00 if quantity exceeds 100 books.

* Character First! pocket guides and books are valuable tools regardless of program.

11. Set up a semester report system to the Character Council including:

1. Report/Summary by the internal committee
2. List of activities that were used to implement the Character Qualities
3. Constructive Criticism report on ideas that did not work and why
4. List of all recognized staff and students, the Character Qualities that were exhibited, and when they were presented with this acknowledgement.
5. Progress report that is inclusive of all staff feedback on the positive changes that they are seeing.

Optional Commitments
Note: The Character Council makes available a resource list and list of consultants upon request.

1. Have in-service teaching and follow-up by an outside consultant.
2. Involve the community by encouraging businesses and government agencies to support school efforts and commit individually to a character focus.

The Idaho Character Council wishes to do our part in making character education an easy tie-in to help superintendents, principals, teachers, staff enhance their lives and students' lives while at the same time helping schools reach their other objectives. We feel that good character development can only enhance success and further the other objectives of achieving high test scores, college placement, etc. that schools need to accomplish.

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