C.A.R.(2)E.S. NEWSLETTER
(Creating A Respectful and Responsive Educational System)
Dr. Duane Hodgin, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Support Services
Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township
"National School District of Character"
September 12, 2007
(No. 1)
“It is our choices…that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
– Harry Potter and the Chamber and Secrets by J.K. Rowling
TAKE TIME TO BE THANKFUL
- If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are better off than 75% of people in the world.
- If you awake each day with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions of people who will not survive in the world this week.
- If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the pangs of starvation, or the fear of torture or death, you are different than 500 million people in the world.
- If you can attend a church, temple or synagogue of your choice without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
- If you can go to the mall, the store or walk down the street without fear of a suicide bomb, you are living in the world’s greatest democracy.
- If you can speak out against your nation’s political leaders through the oral or written word or by peaceful demonstration, you are living in one of the very few countries in the world where these rights exist.
- If your parents are still alive, and still married, you are very rare, even in the United States.
- If you give a stranger a smile, someone a hug, express a compliment, speak words of encouragement, reach-out and lift-up others in need, you are a blessing to others.
- If you can read this message, you are more fortunate than two billion people in the world who cannot read or write at all.
- If you are thankful for your many blessings, and never forget that what you say and do and how you say and do it, will make a difference for others.
NEW “BEGINNING OF THE YEAR CHARACTER QUOTES” (Grades 6-12)
- Use for writing prompts and/or discussion. (One quote for each of the 36 weeks of school.)
- Write one on the board each Monday (36 weeks). Ask students to paraphrase it in their own words.
- Have them keep a “Character Quote Journal” for the year, by date, quote and paraphrase. (Give an “extra credit grade” at the end of each grading period.)
1. “My life is my message.” - Gandhi
“We are not born winners or losers. We are born CHOOSERS.”
“There is no more noble deed than to assist another human being—to help someone in need or to help someone succeed.”
“Never compromise what is right, even when internal or external pressures encourage you to do what is wrong.” - Duane Hodgin
“No act of kindness, however small, is wasted.” -Aesop
“We are what we repeatedly think and do.” - Aristotle
“In matter of character, example is not the main thin. It is the only thing.” - Albert Einstein
“No legacy is as rich as honesty.” – William Shakespeare
“Character is easier kept than recovered.” – Thomas Paine
“Character is the internal motivation to do what is right, whatever the cost.” – Anonymous
“You can judge the character of a man by how he treats these who can do nothing for him.” -Goethe
“The world is desperately in need of people of character who have the courage to do the right thing about wrong conditions.” - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The best portion of a good person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” – William Wadsworth
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi
“There’s a big difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” – Michael Josephson
“It takes courage for a person to listen to his own conscience and act upon it.” - Caslas
“The greatest battles in life are found daily in the silent chambers of the conscience and soul.” David McKay
“Acts of moral courage are often costly, but the price of moral compromise is much higher.” - Michael Josephson
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Reaching down and lifting others up is the best exercise for the heart.” – John Andrew Holmes
“To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“People of character are the conscience of society.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Our character determines us as much as we determine our character.” – Anonymous
“Adversity does not build character; it reveals it.” – Anonymous
“Character is about doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.” – Duane Hodgin
“People who have the “right stuff” are the ones who usually do the right thing.” – Duane Hodgin
“Honesty is not a convenience; it’s not even a choice to a person who values his character…it is a habit.” - Michael Josephson
“Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that seldom flares, and a touch that never hurts.” - Charles Dickens
“Stand up for what is right, even if you stand alone.” – Anonymous
31. “The truth of the matter is we almost always know the right thing to do; the hard part is doing it.” -- Norman Swarzkopf
“The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.” -- Robert Byrne
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.” --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
32. “When in doubt, tell the truth.” -- Mark Twain
35. “Kind deeds and words are short and easy to do and to speak, but their echoes are endless.” - Mother Teresa
“The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.” - John Locke
THE MOUSE – A STORY TO READ TO STUDENTS (Grades 4-12)
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a MOUSETRAP!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house—like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she could not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. (“the chicken”)
But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
Remember, each of us is a vital thread in another person’s tapestry; our lives are woven together for a reason. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend!
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember—when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. (Our families, friends and our students.)
TWO FROGS – ANOTHER STORY WORTH READING AND DISCUSSING (Grades 3-8)
One of the key elements in creating classrooms of character is the need for teachers to build relationships with students. I believe that this can happen when teachers encourage students to do their best in a manner that truly demonstrates they care about them. To demonstrate the power of encouragements, I want to share the story of Will and Fern.
Two frogs named Will and Fern weren’t looking where they were going and they fell into a deep pit. At first they thought it would be easy to jump out, but after 10 failed attempts they were getting desperate and a crowd of animals gathered around the pit. They consensus of the crowd was there was no way either could jump high enough, so they yelled out their verdict and urged Will and Fern to accept their fate and give up. The harder the trapped frogs jumped, the more the crowd yelled at them to surrender. Finally, Will fell back to the bottom and gave up. Fern refused to quit, and with one mighty last try she made it out of the pit.
(Random drawing of 10 names. Email me directly if you want 5 “Character Rocks” and 10 “Character Pencils” to give to students. Send a separate email that says – “CRP” with your name and school. The “winners” will receive them in the interschool mail.)
When the amazed crowd asked her how she had done it when they were telling her to give up…she very quizzically looked at them and reported that she was a bit hard of hearing and she thought they were rooting her on!
NEXT CHARACTER EDUCATION NEWSLETTER – LOOK FOR “SPECIAL PRIZES” TO BE WON!
“I am one and only one, but because I am one,
let it never stop me from doing what I am capable of doing.”
-- Nathan Hale
“CHARACTER ROCKS!”