By STACEY PLAISANCE / L’Observateur / Febuary 3, 1999

Character education programs administered through the LSU Agricultural Center have been implemented in more than 30 parish school systems statewide, including St. James and St. John the Baptist.Piloted in St. James Parish schools in 1997, character education hasimpacted student behavior, reducing discipline disturbances in the classroom, said Janiever Henderson, St. James Parish instructionalsupervisor.

“There’s a noticeable difference because now there’s incentive for good behavior, and there are much fewer after-school detentions, especially at the elementary level,” Henderson said.

Character education was spearheaded in the state by the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service and the LSU Agricultural Center’s educational branch. The Character Counts program is a hands-oneducational effort for young people which teaches six positive character traits – trustworthiness, fairness, respect, caring, responsibility and citizenship.

Parish schools implement the Character Counts program through the use of a copyrighted set of materials developed by the nonprofit Josephson Institute for Ethics.

The Louisiana Legislature appropriated $300,000 to the Ag Center to introduce and coordinate teaching of Character Counts in school systems throughout the state. St. James and St. John were among those parishes toreceive a grant to pilot the program.

“This is the second year the program has been in St. James Parish, but itwas just introduced in St. John,” said Extension Service RepresentativeCathy Holmes. “We’re just now starting to get the program in the schoolsystem there.”Henderson the program has expanded this year, and there are twice as many character education teams in parish schools from last year. In St.James Parish, each junior high and high school has at least one team of students which enforces Character Counts.

“The students were selected on basis of their leadership ability and own character,” Henderson said. “These students were selected to attend atraining program for Character Counts, and then they went into the elementary schools to serve as mentors or trainers for character education.”Most of the team members were students involved in various clubs and organizations, and the teams were allotted time each month to visit the school with which they were paired.

“We had six teams last year, and now we have more than 12,” Henderson said. “The high school teams are not only going to the elementary schoolsnow. They are teaching character education at their own schools as well.”Elementary school teachers participating in the program were given a kit and workbook to integrate Character Counts in their curriculums, Henderson said.

The 4-H Youth Development Program is one of the partners in the nationwide Character Counts coalition, which is helping to introduce the program to youth across the country.

In a letter to Louisiana school superintendents, Cecil J. Picard, statesuperintendent of education, strongly endorsed Character Counts for use in local schools. Henderson said St. James Parish Superintendent WalterLandry was a driving force in the success of the program.

“Superintendent Landry strongly endorsed the program, so that helped incorporate teams at the sixth grade level also,” she said.

Currently, the program is being implemented from grades three through 12, and Henderson said she hopes to one day incorporate the program in all grades, K-12.

“This is a program that I think may be one of the most critical things we’re doing in 4-H,” said LSU Agriculture Center Chancellor Bill Richardson. “It’s just an excellent program that highlights the importanceof being a good citizen and having values that are conductive to our society.”Character Counts and its positive character traits involve all students, regardless of their interests or backgrounds, Richardson added.

One of the key elements of Character Counts is that it’s taught to students primarily by other students, and there is little outside involvement from administrators.

“There is one teacher per team from the schools who help supervise,” Henderson said. “But the programs are enforced by the students.”The program also utilizes various incentives for good behavior, including pillar parties, which are based on the six pillars of character, morning pep-talks, reinforcement from teachers and parental involvement in the award programs at the end of each month, Henderson said.

“These incentives and other aspects of character education have made such a difference, and we hope it continues to grow,” she said.

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