By MELISSA DIPENTO
When you think about a 13-year-old, do you picture a teen whose fingers are glued to their cell phone, who is giggling about who their friend has a crush on or trying to figure out why Justin Bieber is so dreamy?
Prepare yourself to see 13-year-olds in a whole new way. Students at Carusi Middle School have proven that they are more than just a group of average teens.
Last week, The Character Education Partnership named the school a 2011 National School of Character.
Receiving character designation at the school is more than just eliminating foul language in the hallways, eradicating bullying and asking students to value one another and themselves at Carusi.
Principal Kirk Rickansrud explained character education as something that is considered and practiced everyday throughout the hallways and classrooms at the school.
“It’s something you do everyday. I tell students character education is doing the right thing when no one’s looking, Rickansrud said.
The Character Education Partnership defines character as “…Valuing and doing what is ethically right and pursuing excellence. People of good character understand, care about and act upon universal core ethical values.”
Since initiating the program in the school six years ago, Carusi has received the character education designation from the state in 2009–2010 and 2010–2011, Rickansrud said. This school year, school officials applied to be named at the national level.
First, Carusi needed to prove it could uphold the 11 Principles of Effective Character Education, including promoting core ethical and performance values as the foundation of good character, creating a caring community, providing students with opportunities for moral action, and offering a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners, develops their character, and helps them to succeed, among other standards.
School officials wrote a narrative about each of the 11 principals and how those principals are put into action daily, citing evidence for each.
At the state level, Rickansrud said, officials graded the school on their ability to meet the criteria. A national committee also reviewed the findings.
From there, officials from The Character Education Partnership did a walk through of the school.
“They wanted to make sure we say what we do,” Rickansrud said.
Rickansrud said he had a discussion with the official doing the walkthrough prior to the actual day, explaining the school’s motives in striving for character recognition, as well as how they are implemented.
On the day of, the national official greeted students as they got off the buses in the morning, spent time in the lunchroom, roamed the halls and classrooms and watched students board the buses in the afternoon, Rickansrud said. Student ambassadors, rather than teachers and administrators, guided the national official through the school’s hallways.
Rickansrud said it was good for the students to be recognized for their hard work.
“Middle school is a dynamic part of their lives as they’re becoming young adults. They are finding out who they want to become and they also start to find a moral compass,” Rickansrud said.
Rickansrud said he hopes this recognition will encourage and propel Carusi students into their next phase of life.
“They’re transitioning from their elementary safe haven into young adult hood. They start to think, ‘What is it for me that’s going to keep me going as a positive citizen in the community?’ When they go to high school, I think they’ll have more resiliency when things get tough,” Rickansrud said.
The Character Education Partnership will honor Carusi, as well as 42 other schools nationwide that received the designation, on Oct. 19 in San Francisco. Carusi will receive a banner and a check for $1,000, which Rickansrud said will be used to further the character program.
“The students are very excited. It gives our young people a sense of pride,” Rickansrud said.
