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Welcome to Character Counts at Waggoner!
This online instructional program was developed by Jay Wallace and was
meant to help educate, promote and establish a general knowledge and
familiarity about the structure, goals and benefits of the Character Counts
Program. It is intended to be used by teachers, students, as well as parents
as a self-directed instructional tool and resource. Hopefully,
through
the use of this interactive, self guided, environment, individuals will have a greater understanding of the program and be
able to use the information contained within to increase the effectiveness
of the character education instruction at our school. The main goal is for
the students at Waggoner to become TeRRiFiCC!
That is to know and display the qualities outlined by the six pillars of
character; Trustworthiness,
Respect,
Responsibility, Fairness,
Caring, and
Citizenship. Each of the instructional pages were meant to
introduce and inform about the ethical values that form the foundation for each of the pillars and the final page will
provide an opportunity to view and hopefully utilize some additional
resources that will help promote this program to classrooms, the school, and
the community. Within the resources page there is also a culminating
assessment in which users can test their knowledge of the Character Counts
program.
Why Character Education?
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CC History
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People do not automatically develop good moral
character; therefore, conscientious efforts must be made to help young
people develop the values and abilities necessary for moral
decision-making and conduct.
Effective character education is based on core ethical
values, which form the foundation of democratic society, in particular,
respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, caring, justice and fairness,
and civic virtue and citizenship. These core ethical values transcend
cultural, religious, and socio-economic differences.
Character education is, first and foremost, an
obligation of families; it is also an important obligation of schools,
youth and other human service organizations. These obligations to
develop character are best fulfilled when these groups work in concert.
The character and conduct of our youth reflect the
character and conduct of society; therefore, every adult has the
responsibility to teach and model the core ethical values and every
social institution has the responsibility to promote the development of
good character.
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In 1992, the nonprofit Josephson Institute of Ethics
hosted a conference held in Aspen, Colorado. This gathering of experts
in ethics and character education met to find ways to work together,
primarily by developing a common language of core ethical values that
transcend religious, political and socioeconomic differences. The
gathering identified the values called the Six Pillars of Character —
trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and
citizenship.
In 1993 the Josephson Institute
launched CHARACTER COUNTS! and assembled its Coalition, which consisted
of a handful of national organizations. Today, the Coalition has grown
to include thousands of members and affiliates, including schools,
school districts, youth-service groups, and even whole communities.
Information provided by the
Character
Counts web site |
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Related CC Links
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 This
PowerPoint slide show contains some important information on the
history, reasoning and methodology regarding Character Counts. It can be
a useful tool to provide teachers, staff and parents an introduction and
overview of the program.
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Want to Learn More about
CC? Try these links!
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