Tina Anima

Rincon Valley Students are learning about honesty, respect, and responsibility along with reading and writing lessons as part of a nationwide movement to bring Values back to the classroom.

The Rincon Valley School District in eastern Santa Rosa is focusing on character education in its seven elementary schools to teach children how to behave in todays world. School officials say the program is working. They’re holding doors open for grown-ups and behaving in a more respectful way said Superintendent Dick Scardamaglia. Civic Values instruction , virtually abandoned in public schools 20 years ago, have been making a comeback during the past few years as teachers and parents discover the merits of sending their kids the same message . Your character matters.

The Virginia based Character Education Partnership estimates one in five public schools have some type of character education program in the works based on a 1993 study by a New York education professor While in CA , one in 10 school districts is teaching values, according to the Pasadena –based Jefferson center for Character Education.

Gene Bedley of the National Character Education Center states it ‘s not that we are currently placing more emphasis on teaching values. We have always taught values by the very text we choose and the time we give toward studying the Characters Character and the morals in the stories we present to kids. What’s happening is teachers are becoming more intentional in embedding character development themes into many of their lessons.

You see kids in the Rincon Valley schools using our Integrity Creed that they all memorize which is a small but very important part of the Values in Action! Program The creed states :

“I’m a person of Integrity ! You can count on me. Every day I will do a little bit better than yesterday to be more truthful to my self and others. I’m a person of integrity you can count on me!”