Schools to focus on character during week of events

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005

The Frederick County Board of Education has declared Oct. 16-22 as Character Counts! Week in the county’s public schools.

Now in its ninth year at county schools, Character Counts! teaches students six pillars of character for use in and out of school: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

On Wednesday, the board recognized representatives from Middletown Elementary School and Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, who were honored in September for outstanding character programs by the Maryland Center for Character Education.

Along with individual school events planned for Character Counts! Week, Frederick County Public Schools will hold a daylong conference on the program 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday for staff, students and parents at the Lynfield Event Complex in Frederick.

The event's featured speaker will be Gary Smit, a Character Counts! consultant and former superintendent of schools in Lombard, Ill.

“We've had a lot of staff turnover in nine years, so this will be a review for staff and a chance to share new ideas and programs being conducted across the nation,“ said the school system’s counseling and student support supervisor Sharon Boettinger.

The school department will hold a gala dinner at Hood College's Whitaker Center on Wednesday to recognize students and individuals and organizations from the community for their work in character building. The keynote speaker at the dinner will be Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Lynne Battaglia.

“This is a time for us to stop and reflect on what's happening around us, be thankful and give back to those less fortunate,“ Boettinger said.

For more information on the Character Counts! events, contact Boettinger at 301-644-5224.

Hood offers seminar

Hood College is offering a 10-week, 16-credit Coastal Studies Semester to undergraduates at any college or university who want to study coastal environments from scientific, literary, historical and cultural perspectives.

Beginning in January, participants will travel to locations ranging from the Florida Keys to the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the Maryland, Virginia and Delaware area as part of the interdisciplinary program.

For an application packet and more information about the program, visit Hood College’s Web site at www.hood.edu⁄coastal, or contact Coastal Studies Semester coordinator Ron Albaugh at 301-696-3652.