Virtues in Canadian primary schools

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These elementary school children are virtuousPublished Friday September 17th, 2010 (Fredericton, Canada)
Children at Douglas Elementary School and McAdam Avenue Elementaryare shining examples of what can happen when children are taught virtuesand assets and apply them to their lives.
Virtues are the best qualities within us all.
The strategies of the Virtues Project help children to remember whothey really are and to know that the purpose of life is to have alife purpose.
Virtues are the content of our character and the elements ofthe human spirit. They exist within each of us in potential.
The role of teachers is to bring these virtues to life that alreadyexist within a child.Students at these two schools and others in the area are learningvirtues and it's making a difference.
Each month the schoolsconcentrate on one specific virtue. The kids talk about it in class. Students who exhibit a virtue receive a slip that says they deserve praise for their efforts and their names are announced each Monday morning to the entire school.Every Friday one student that has been recognized for their effortsreceives a prize.
This month the children are studying co-operation, working togetherfor the good of everyone.The students know that they are practising co-operation when theywork well with others and follow the rules.They understand that to co-operate means to offer help and ideasfreely and that it happens when they do their part to keep a safe andhealthy environment.
Fredericton area parent Brenda MacAloon is a Virtues Project facilitator who worked with two of the founders of the InternationalVirtues Project when it was presented to area schools several yearsago.Her experience with virtues started when she was expecting her firstchild and decided this is the way she wanted to raise her family. For a child, she says, the Virtues Project is empowering.
"These virtues are like a little gem that they have inside of them but it takes someone to see it in them before they really believe that they have it. I fell in love with this. It has changed my life, how Ithink, how I treat myself."
Louise LaBerge is Grade 2 teacher at Douglas Elementary. She attended the virtues training workshop and knew it was something she wanted in her life and in the lives of her students."It's caused me to change the way I think, the way I communicate withmy students. It's a very powerful way of speaking, living andcommunicating with people that is very empowering."
Just after a fire drill, she told the children she was proud of the responsibility, the courtesy and purposefulness the children displayed during the fire drill."When I see a child drop something on the floor and I see three others going over to help pick it up I say, 'thank you for your kindness andyour helpfulness.'"
It's all about celebrating good behaviour and virtuous living rather than shaming a child for inappropriate behaviour, she explains.The children are as excited about the virtues project as their teachers.
At McAdam Avenue School, Grade 5 student Timothy Chonkhite says when he studied determination and put it into practice, it helped him to stay focused in school.
For Mitchell Vance, who is also in Grade 5 at this school, studying the virtues made him think about other people.
Jack Oulton and Destiny Leighton are in Grade 4 at Douglas School. They agree that virtues are important and that everyone should try to use them in their lives as often as possible.

Laverne Stewart is a staff writer at The Daily Gleaner.