Creating a Culture of Character in Our Schools

• Inspiring, educational, and motivational
• Create a respectful, peaceful, and just school environment
• Tools for transformation that you can use immediately
• Avoid power struggles with students
• Communicate more effectively
• Reduce discipline problems in the classroom
• Transform bully behavior into peaceful resolution with just consequences
• Create a school climate of caring, respect and responsibility where students learn
• Over 30 activities you can use right away in the classroom and school
• Fits into any curriculum
• Includes The Virtues Project Educator's Guide (246 pages of lessons, activities, strategies, and ideas from teachers around the world for K-12 students.)
• Other support materials, such as posters, virtues cards, virtues vouchers
• One and two day workshops, or half-days series
• In-service training is designed to fit school calendar
• Clock hours; CEU's offered

Tukwila Community Schools Staff, Tukwila, WA

"This was the most useful in-service I have attended in my 15 years of teaching." -Lisa Blackwell, Darby Public Schools, Darby, MT

"Thanks for the class. It is already improving my learning & approach to teaching. My vocabulary is becoming more specific and I feel my classes and students' understanding and participation are stronger! Great class!"-Teacher, Bellevue School District, Bellevue, Wa

"Incorporating The Virtues Project™ into our school is absolutely seamless. We have incorporated it into our regular curriculum, our class and school rules, and our student and teacher interactions. Our students and staff have become more considerate, tolerant, and in integrity in the four years we have used this program." Betsy Hill, former Principal, Medina Elem. School, Medina, WA

"I hear nothing but positive comments about your program. You really are making a super positive impact in the District, Bellevue and apparently the world at large!" -Karla Moreno, middle school teacher, Bellevue, WA

Bellevue School District 6 week class, Bellevue, WA

"This is the first time in all of my teaching that I can see the impact of what I'm teaching right now!" -Pat Hannam, Health & Family Life teacher, Lakes H.S., Lakewood, WA

"I have to admit that of the three years I taught at Medina, the thing I am most proud of from my teaching is how the Virtues were used in my classroom. It offered so many incredible teachable moments, that I feel had the most impact on my students of anything I taught them." -Julie Doan, 2nd grade teacher

"Betsy Lydle Smith engaged every adult in the discussion, helping them identify and "own" their virtues. This personal approach allowed for deep reflection and transfer of knowledge to help individuals focus on our students. Our teachers have remembered and applied the skills learned in the Virtues training." -Jill McLeod, Principal, Phantom Lake Elem., Bellevue, WA

"It made me really think about the way I see other students at my school. I got to really know the people in my group and see them in a different way." -High school student, YMCA Conference for Teens and Police, Marysville, WA

"This is great– As great as we make it. It should increase in effectiveness over time and negatively impact teacher's time very little." -Teacher, Tok K-12 School, Tok, AK

Virtues in the classroom, 2nd grade, Bellevue, WA

"The Virtues presentation was the most valuable part of this year's conference. I'm using this in my troop immediately. I will implement it into my trainings." -Trainer, Girl Scouts-Totem Council, Seattle, WA

"The most helpful part of this workshop was working as a team to reach a common goal." Sally Kieffer, Trapper Creek Job Corps staff, Darby, MT

"I enjoyed and learned much. The workshop was informative, more emotional and soul-searching than expected. A wonderful experience. Thank you!" Teacher, Tok School, Tok, AK

"I will use friendliness now. I never talk to anyone at school; I usually sit by myself, but now I will make an effort to talk to others. I know I have this virtue of friendliness." -High school student, YMCA Connections Conference, Everett, WA

"I appreciated being able to share on a deeper level with my colleagues. This was an excellent presentation, well-paced, and very practical." -Teacher, Tok School, Tok, AK

"From a fourth-grade teacher's perspective, the Virtues Program has been a great asset to our classroom this year. Knowledge of the virtues vocabulary has enabled my students to develop an awareness of personality qualities that they'd like to have. We've also used virtues in our writing; they've been helpful in describing some of the characters we read about in literature, and they've also been helpful when we've written about friends in our classroom." -Kay Lynn Odle-Moore, Grade 4 @ Tok School, AK

Virtues in the classroom, 2nd grade, Bellevue, WA

Here's what former Director Robin Castle, of Discovery Montessori School in McAllen, Texas, wrote about Montessori and The Virtues Project:

"It supports Montessori's philosophy and methodology beautifully. Recognizing that virtues are 'the gifts from within', the Virtues Project affirms Montessori's observations of the child's inner guide, and the need for the child to learn to connect to the inner guide to choose what is best. It gives the children (and adults) a beautiful and simple format to cultivate a complete language of the virtues.

In addition to the virtues we often use in our Montessori philosophy, those of grace, courtesy, respect, caring, love and kindness, children and the adults in their lives are enriched by learning to fine tune some useful virtues like moderation, tact, assertiveness, enthusiasm, purposefulness, diligence and idealism.

We use the language of the virtues to ACKNOWLEDGE the beautiful 'gems' that children are developing, and thereby help them recognize they can use these gems in a variety of situations. We use the language of the virtues to GUIDE children to a virtue that will help them handle a situation with peaceful integrity. We use the language of the virtues to CORRECT children with a virtue that will help them avoid a problem in the future."

My name is Julie Doan. I taught 2nd grade at Medina Elementary School, near Seattle, WA. I have to admit that of the three years I taught at Medina, the thing I am most proud of from my teaching is how the Virtues were used in my classroom. It offered so many incredible teachable moments, that I feel had the most impact on my students of anything I taught them.

These are my favorite moments or activities with the virtues:

1. Recess posed lots of social conflicts. I never had the time to give each and every child the attention they were seeking for resolution. I also didn't have the time to discern which were really noteworthy, and which were just situations a child needed to vent and realize it would blow over soon. So, I created a piece of paper (and made over a hundred copies) with this outline:

What happened:

What bothered me about it:

What I did to solve it:

Some other approaches to solving it:

Virtues I need to call on to help me right now:

Then, they would turn it in, I could read it on my own time, and they knew I would conference with them when it was appropriate during the school day. Sometimes, kids would write it all out and throw it away. They solved it on their own by writing it all out. Other times, the problem wasn't a big enough deal to them to write it, and they moved on independently. It helped them and me, and managing conflicts became more meaningful and manageable.

1. Writing Valentine's always seemed like a huge waste of paper and time to me. Buy the paper, sign my name, attach a piece of candy. Candy gets eaten, card goes in the trash. Great. So, last year I did Virtue Valentines. I cut out paper hearts and wrote an honoring virtue for each student. It meant a lot more to them, took a little more time for me---but was so much more meaningful. It was a nice time to reflect on the gifts each of my students brought to our class, and made it WAY more fun to give on Valentine's Day.

3. One of the goals with V.P. is to get students self-aware. Getting them to recognize where virtues are fluorishing and lacking is something I didn't expect to see---teaching is all about delayed gratification… Last year I had a particularly rough group. Lots of shining individuals, but together, they just didn't get along. They said very spiteful things, and acted selfishly towards one another. As the end of the month was approaching, and it was getting time to introduce a new virtue, Jimmy walked up to me and said, "Miss Doan, what virtue are we learning about next month?" "Integrity was the plan." "Oh.." he said, and looked disappointed. "Why? Did you have a different idea?" I asked "Well, I was hoping it would be love. I think we all need to do some work with that one." My second grade sage replied. "Well, love it is!" I said. I gave him a big hug and thanked him for having the courage to share his own idea. I liked it better, so the month of May we focused on love.

These are just a few examples of the many incredible ways I saw the virtues shaping my students' attitudes, language, self-reliance, and esteem. I'll close with my very favorite project:

December's virtue focus is Service. A time when every child is thinking about what they will receive during the holidays, I decided it was a good time to focus on others. So, we started a collection of food. Students were responsible for earning the money (by helping around the house, or raking the neighbor's leaves, etc.) to purchase a loaf of bread, or jar of peanut butter, or paper bags, and over the course of the month, food began slowly coming in. (Bread, obviously on the last day) We collected food, and on the last day, began making sack lunches for a local shelter in Seattle. The KIDS made the lunches---adults were not allowed, though many parents helped monitor the stations. Collectively with the other 2nd grades, we made over 300 bag lunches that each contained a sandwich, chips, fruit, granola bar, and juice box. That's how much food they brought in. When asked what they enjoyed most about their project, more than anything I heard, "It is so much more fun to give than to get." Sweet. Service goals achieved.

Never a month went by without a student referencing a past virtue focus and lesson they had learned and was carrying over. Hence, the experiences the Virtues Project offers its participants are invaluable and memorable. A beautiful gift in every classroom.

Thanks for that opportunity for me to reflect and remember. :)

Sincerely, Julie Doan