Coming Together In Unity: Campaign Highlights The Meaning Of Respect

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Educators at Unity School District in northwestern Wisconsin knew they had to do something to curb the discipline problems that were spiraling out of control.

The Unity Middle School recorded more than 100 suspensions out of a 275 student population — and that was in the first four months of the school year. The Polk County Sheriff’s Department was spending way too much time responding to problems at the school site, which combines elementary, middle and high schools at one location just outside Balsam Lake.

Recognizing the need to address these problems before they occurred, several Unity educators — including Dan Paulson and David Stark — have spearheaded an initiative to restore an atmosphere of respect and cooperation.

“Project Character” is designed to involve the schools, parents, students, and the district’s three communities in a variety of connected programs that emphasize five key character values:

• Responsibility
• Respect
• Caring
• Citizenship
• Trust

Young people of the community will both learn the importance of these traits and teach them to their peers and other members of the community.

The program is the winner of a $5,000 grant from the Learning Foundation of Wisconsin, which is affiliated with WEAC.

The seeds of Project Character were planted last year at a series of school district-sponsored meetings with 22 representatives from the local business community, farming community, commuters, faculty and students. Participants developed a set of belief statements and a mission statement for the district. The belief statement is: “It is essential for the school, parents and the community to share in the development of character, which is being responsible, respectful, caring, trustworthy, and a good citizen.”

Organizers also are working with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department and the Round Lake Education Committee of the St. Croix Band of the Chippewa. Staff development projects already have been instituted in classroom management and improving self-esteem, and in Native American culture.

Teachers and support staff from all three schools have conducted meetings to identify ways to implement the campaign in the schools.

“The faculty first had to come to terms with what these five characteristics meant,” said Paulson, an E.D. teacher at the elementary school. “It’s already caused a lot of changes within the schools. The discussions were fantastic. We really got to deal with a lot of concerns the faculty had.”

Participants agreed that students had to receive consistent messages at school, at home and at the grocery store. Everyone had to work together.

Many ideas began to emerge: a public awareness campaign, guest speakers, and curriculum materials that could be integrated into the regular curriculum at all grade levels. Specifics included:

• Develop roadside signs, billboards, posters, brochures, newspaper articles, and radio spots focusing on the school-family-community partnership in instilling the five value characteristics.
• Identify curricular materials that incorporate lessons about character development.
• Develop a schoolwide character theme and activities for each month, including contests for the best slogan.
• Sponsor a series of community discussions about character in local civic organizations, churches, and in the local media.
• Have a series of speakers who will present short programs on character traits to students.
• Create visual displays for the hallways, classrooms, and playgrounds that emphasize character.

These efforts will be incorporated with existing programs, including the district’s developmental guidance program, the elementary school’s conflict resolution program, and the “fight free” program. Educators will also bring other programs under the umbrella of Project Character. These include, for example, the Students of the Month program.

Many other positive things are happening in the Unity district, Stark and Paulson said. The district has rearranged lockers to mix grade levels so that younger and older students are side by side. This has created an opportunity for older students to help younger students and feel a responsibility to model positive behavior for them. The district also has decided to keep high school students in the same homeroom for four years. That builds cohesion between the student and the teacher.

As these efforts merge and expand, Project Character hopes to build a new atmosphere of respect in the community and the classroom, they said.

Posted October 29, 1996