I
want to share with you an amazing example of one child’s courage and character
at the end of the Orange Olympics, an annual athletic event which took place at
High Plains on June 12, 2013. But, first
a little background.
In
education, as with many other fields, we tend to rely on catch phrases which
are intended to resonate with the
audience and make a complex concept more meaningful and memorable. Sometimes, however, our jargon does the
opposite because the phrase is wide open to a variety of interpretations. ‘Whole
child education’ is one of those terms. What
does it mean? On the surface, it even
seems a little silly – after all, who would teach half of a child?
Whole child
education, however, refers to the idea that all children learn best when their
academic, emotional, physical, and social understandings are addressed. Yes, we write report cards and update you on the
CMTs and other standardized tests as evidence of our students’ academic
achievements. In fact, for a while now, it has seemed as if educational
thinking, practice, and policy have been singularly focused on academic
achievement. In Orange, that is not the case. We all know that to be successful participating
world citizens, our students must also be healthy, confident, self-motivated,
considerate, and honest.
In other words, they need to be young people
of character. These attributes are, of course, treasured by our
families; and we realize what we do in our schools supplements these same
values you are teaching at home. But, be
assured, all of our schools do focus
on these qualities through programs, such as ‘Character Counts,’ through planned
philanthropic activities, and by capitalizing on ‘teachable moments’ when they
occur. Yesterday’s event at the Olympics
illustrated the importance of ‘whole child’ character education perfectly; and
hopefully, all of our students paid attention and learned something of value. 
At the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, a young man was called up to podium to receive his gold medal for winning his event. He took the stage, and in front of his peers and a crowd of parents found the courage to express, ‘I didn’t win this; it doesn’t belong to me; the person who actually won this event has the same first name as I do, but he’s the person who won.’ Imagine the nervousness he felt in front of a crowd; imagine the choices running through his head. He could accept the medal and keep it. He could accept the medal, for now, and then after the ceremony, give it back and explain it wasn’t his. But, he took the least easy path available to him and chose ‘doing the right thing’ at the moment when doing the right thing was called for. In front of everyone, he ensured that the medal and recognition went to the person to whom it belonged.
That’s character!
