Character First
Overview: Character Education Impacts Academics and Transforms Behavior Character Education fosters and fortifies core values that successfully achieve the following objectives:
- To promote academic achievement and leadership governed by integrity.
- To cultivate a aafe school climate and an inclusive culture.
- To drive ethical, responsible priorities and behavior.
- To nurture a lifelong, committed citizenry for community service and outreach.
Character Education is not a curriculum. It is a transformed mindset, a continuous refreshing and renewing of the mind that channels dispositions and behaviors that edify.
Muskogee High School has been recognized and celebrated as the 2011 State and National School of Character by the Character Education Partnership (CEP) in Washington D.C., whose mission is to provide the vision and leadership and resources for schools, families, and communities to develop ethical citizens committed to building a just and caring world.
Additional Character Education resources can be found by visiting the Information for K-12 Teachers and Staff page (under Other Helpful Information).
Resources
Annual Summer Institute for Character Education
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, in collaboration with Character First, Christian Heritage Academy, the Oklahoma Center for Character Education, Oklahoma City Community College and the University of Central Oklahoma, host the Summer Institute for Character Education annually. The Summer Institute for Character Education is a professional development opportunity tailored for junior/senior level pre-service teachers from Oklahoma’s 22 schools of teacher education.
During the three-day, all-expense-paid, corporate-sponsored conference, 44 elementary and secondary future educators will actively engage in unique, interactive Character Education training and best practices. Participants will develop character language, behavior and leadership skills, and classroom management and praise strategies. Attendees will also learn about the importance of socioeconomic dynamics that impact today’s students’ academic and behavioral performance.
The Summer Institute for Character Education is designed to encourage and empower Oklahoma’s future teachers to model and promote character values – a life-altering, universal phenomenon taking place in and out of the classroom.
This year’s conference, Charting a Path to Character, is scheduled for July 11-13, 2013, at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Hampton Inn and Suites, 300 N. Sheraton Ave. The Summer Institute for Character Education conference registration link will launch Monday, March 25.
