Character Counts at TES

Tharptown Elementary students are “Wild About Good Character” all year long, but the week of Oct. 16 they had the chance to really delve into what it means to have good character, according to TES counselor Susan McRight.

For their Character Counts week, McRight said students learned about the six pillars of good character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

“We really wanted to reinforce these good character traits by addressing each one individually and having guest speakers from the community come and talk about them,” McRight said.

They kicked off their week talking about responsibility with Sheriff Shannon Oliver, fire Chief Joe Mansell, fire marshal Justin Green and Scott Daniels with Alabama Forestry.

“They called us and asked if we would come and talk to the second graders, and we were happy to. We talked about things like fire safety and bullying,” Mansell said.

Police officer Terry Zills spoke with the Pre-K and kindergarteners about respect, and Neil Rogers, the pastor at Tharptown Baptist Church, spoke about trustworthiness.

Judge Paula McDowell spoke about fairness and truthfulness and how she incorporates those principles into her profession.

“She did such a great job, and the kids loved her,” McRight said.

One of the talks McRight said she will never forget is when Jamie Kiel spoke to the sixth-graders about citizenship. She said he divided the students up into two groups: the House and the Senate. The students had to come up with laws they wanted to pass.

The first law was about ruling that there be no school for children, but McRight said it was voted down in the “Senate” and never made it to the “House”. The second law was about having a longer Christmas break. This one passed both House and Senate, but when it reached the governor (McRight), she vetoed it. To overrule her veto, the students had to have a 50 percent plus one vote, and they succeeded and won.

“It was such a beautiful lesson about how our government works and so hands-on. The kids loved it,” McRight said.

Another way the school is promoting character is through their ambassadors. McRight said TES held a schoolwide election for the students who ran. To participate, a student had to have a high grade point average, write a report on why he or she wanted to run and what they would do with the position and then hold a campaign.

“It’s really student-driven. The ambassadors are the ones in charge of putting up the wildcat paw prints on the board by the office, and I can trust them with any task I give them,” McRight said.

The paw prints, she explained, are for students who exemplify the good character traits they are learning. Other students, teachers and faculty can nominate a student, and their name gets written on a paw print and posted on the board.