PICTURED: Liverpool third-grade teacher Eleanor Thuotte and her students stand near the flag that is part of the school's character ed program. The program was launched in 1993 when then-principal Rich Parisi (now principal of nearby Wetzel Road Elementary) brought a team of parents and teachers to a conference at SUNY Cortland. PHOTO BY STEPHEN GAGE.

When legislation went into effect this school year requiring instruction in civility, citizenship and character, teachers at Morgan Road Elementary School in the Liverpool Central School District knew just what to do. They'd been doing it for six years.

In fact, the Onondaga County school was one of just 10 nationwide that last year won a National School of Character award from the Washington, D.C.-based Character Education Partnership (www.character.org) for accomplishments in character education.

When the world looked at "heroes" in a new way after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Morgan Road Elementary was ready for that, too. Months earlier, the school community had picked "heroes" as the annual theme for character education. So when our country's heroes responded to the tragedy, students were already discussing, defining and drawing heroes. It's all part of what they do now in art, in reading, in writing, in the halls, in music - everywhere.

"It's not an extra thing. It's not like, 'It's time for character education,'" said Kathy Cunningham, a kindergarten teacher at Morgan Road Elementary School who is among the group that founded the school's character education program.

The school resonates with a positive tone. Morgan Road demonstrates how successful a program can be when staff, parents and community work together, said Joan Halsted, president of the United Liverpool Faculty Association.

Cunningham said that referral rates to the office for student misbehavior have gone down significantly from both teachers and bus drivers since character education was initiated.

Bringing the bus drivers into the program has been especially effective, she said, because students are exposed to the program in all aspects of school life. One driver, she said, had a particularly challenging route with many student behavioral problems. Now, he has learned all the children's names and they, in turn, each shake his hand when they get on the bus. When problems arise, he uses the same strategies and language that teachers use. As a result, there have been far fewer problems, Cunningham said.

Teachers incorporate values into the regular curriculum. Citizenship, for example, in "kindergartenese" translates to being a good citizen by picking up litter. It is studying the pledge of allegiance. It is wearing handmade hats home on Election Day, reminding parents to vote.

Literature is the crux of the program, according to Cunningham. The school has built up a library teachers can use to focus on the traits of character education. Discussion about a fairy tale, for example, might include a question on which character is trustworthy.

Pioneering professor

The Liverpool program and many others are based on principles espoused by Tom Lickona, a professor at State University of New York at Cortland who is widely regarded as a national expert in the burgeoning field of character education. Lickona is a member of United University Professions, New York State United Teachers' affiliate at SUNY, and is the founding director of the Center for the

4th and 5th Rs (see article below). The center's annual conference attracts educators committed to the concept that character can be built in the classroom.

"We argue that character education is the foundation for anything else," said Lickona. "It's not something new on the plate. It is the plate." He believes that respect and responsibility - the fourth and fifth Rs - can transform harmful behavior.

Building blocks of character

Enthused by attending a conference hosted by Lickona in 1993, the Morgan Road Elementary group formed a committee of teachers and parents called CARE, Character and Reading Enrichment, and spent the next two years molding their own program.

They also joined a national organization, Character Counts Coalition (www.charactercounts.org).

Using ideas from the coalition, CARE created a visual "building" that would model how character education would be built. Six pillars form the structure of the building: respect, responsibility, caring, trustworthiness, fairness and citizenship. The base is the golden rule: "Treat others as you want to be treated;" the roof is the school's mission statement: "A caring, cooperative community."

A large, laminated paper building with the six pillars hangs in the school entrance. Principal Fred Fowler built a tabletop structure with pillars that can be disassembled and rebuilt so students can see first-hand how character is built.

Now, whenever the traits of character education are used, it's called "pillar talk."

"We're all talking the same talk. There are the same expectations," Cunningham said. "They're words that the kids know."

The same pillars remain, but each year a new theme is chosen to spark a look at the traits in a new way. This year, with heroes as the theme, students draw heroes in art class with teacher JoBeth Lehrer, and write about them in class. Kindergartners made a giant paper American flag, and the red stripes consist of their handprints dipped in red paint. They read stories in front of the flag, and it becomes a part of who they are, beyond their own smudges of red. Eventually they will give the flag to their local fire department to show those heroes that they, too, have left their mark.

As heroes learn, teamwork is important. A "buddy" program nurtures those just learning the pillar talk. Older kids might play a board game with the youngsters and discuss what "fairness" means. Students promote the trait of the month during announcements.

Character by the calendar

Character education follows the rhythm of the school year. When school starts in September, the first trait is "no put-downs." October is citizenship. In November and December, "caring" translates to food drives and giving trees. During January, talk turns to trustworthiness and honesty. Music teacher Joan Robson teaches each grade songs about such subjects as keeping a promise.

Fairness, tolerance and respect take them through February, March and April. In May, the pillar talk turns to the "golden rule." Last year teachers looked for "golden moments" and presented students with paper "golden" medals.

Several school staffers are trained in conflict resolution, a skill students learn starting in kindergarten. And quiet time is important: "A big thing we've learned along the way is to have reflection time," Cunningham added.

The school's program, which has deepened with time and commitment, has attracted the attention of "a ton of visitors," Cunningham said. They quickly realize that the songs and artwork are more than bursts of creativity; they are testaments of character.

Chances are, they leave with a new language.

- Liza Frenette

Why the renewed focus on character education? One reason that pre-dates 9/11 is Project SAVE, a comprehensive safe- schools law signed in 2000, following years of lobbying by New York State United Teachers for action to stem violence and disrespect. The legislation provides a number of safety measures, says Alan Lubin, NYSUT executive vice president, and calls for incorporating character education into the classroom.

SUNY Cortland prof promotes the 4th & 5th Rs

Tom Lickona might wear two different hats at SUNY Cortland, but they are brimming with the same material: character education. Lickona, a member of United University Professions, is a professor in the education department known for his work in classroom discipline and character education. He is also the director of the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs, a nationally recognized program that helps infuse character education into life at school.

"It's a source of hope. The character education movement represents a vision for the future," Lickona said.

A motivational guru of goodness, Lickona has a banner message about his program: It is not something new for teachers to add to a stacked curriculum; it is about working with material that is already there. The center trains teachers to include principles of character and citizenship education in their daily teaching activities.

"Every child has the capacity for goodness," Lickona said. "If we want kids to develop responsibly, they have to have responsibility."

The center hosts an annual summer institute held the last week in June at the Cortland campus and typically attended by about 500 teachers, principals, counselors and parents. Participants, who now total 2,500, have come from more than 30 states and seven different countries, Lickona said. Most people attend as part of a team, which makes it easier to implement the ideals back home. Schools that participate report less violence and better retention of students, Lickona said.

The center promotes a 12-step model of character education, with the first nine steps for the classroom, and the last three for the community:

1. Teacher as model

2. Caring classroom

3. Moral discipline (shared decision-making)

4. Democratic classroom environment

5. Character through content of the curriculum

   (Children learn, for example, that a scientist should embody characteristics of patience and commitment to truth.)

6. Cooperative learning

7. Developing students' academic responsibility or conscience

8. Ethical reflection

9. Conflict resolution

10. Positive moral culture in the school

    (The same character expectations for children and adults in every aspect of the school environment)

11. Caring beyond the classroom (service)

12. Recruiting parents and community members as partners in character education

For curriculum ideas or more information on the center, check out www.cortland.edu/c4n5rs or call (607) 753-2455.

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