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Learning for Life Character Education 2006 Recognition Luncheon The 2006 Learning for Life Recognition Luncheon was conducted recently at the Gulf Ridge Council, BSA office. The guest speaker was former Hall of Famer Earl Christy, formerly with the New York Jets. There was a great meal, entertainment, and recognition of school personnel and community volunteers with the 2006 Richard Hill Awards and several talented youth with US Savings Bonds in recognition of their excellent essays on character. Click here for some photos from the Learning for Life Luncheon.
Learning for Life is a Character Education program designed to support schools and other youth serving organizations with their efforts to prepare youth to successfully handle the complexities of today’s society and to enhance their self-confidence, motivation, and self-worth. Learning for Life also helps to develop social and life skills, assists in character development, and helps to formulate positive personal values. It prepares young people to make ethical decisions that will help them achieve their full potential. Learning for Life enhances teacher capacity and increases student learning. Learning for Life is a not-for-profit organization. More than 20,000 schools and organizations nationwide are involved with the Learning for Life program. Our local program is funded through the generosity of the Department of Education, The Boy Scouts of America and other community foundations. The local Learning for Life program serves over 40 Hillsborough County Schools and the Alternative Sites. It is the mission of Leaning for Life to serve others by helping to instill core values in young people and in other ways prepare them to make ethical choices throughout their lives so they can achieve their full potential Speaker's Bureau Today’s young people live in a changing world that has seen the breakdown of the family unit, an increase in drug abuse, violence, and a decline in moral standards. They are thrown into a “hothouse” of competition and social change that tests their decision-making skills. There is an increasing need for positive role models, now more than ever. Learning for Life Career Speakers accomplish this by sharing ideas about overcoming life’s obstacles, giving realistic views of the world of work, and guiding students towards achieving their goals. Career speakers help young adults acquire a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence. They guide the educational growth of our future worker, administrators, executives and county leaders. Being a career speaker not only meets a critical community need, but speakers gain personal and professional satisfaction as their efforts can make a profound difference in shaping a young person’s future. Mentors Program Learning For Life is an ideal vehicle for mobilizing community resources and delivering the collective experience of local business, civic, and community leaders to our youth and schools. This is accomplished by student mentors sharing ideas about overcoming life’s obstacles, giving realistic views of the world of work, and guiding the students academically as well as role models. Right now there are thousands of children in Florida waiting to be matched up with a mentor. These young people are already in danger of failing or dropping out. The sad truth is there are not nearly enough mentors. Businesses realize tremendous rewards and satisfaction by supporting and participating in this special partnership. Not only does being a partner/mentor meet a critical community need, but mentors gain personal and professional satisfaction as their efforts make a profound difference in the lives of young people. Every school and organization conducting Learning for Life programs will have a professional Learning for Life representative assigned to assist in the program’s implementation and to provide ongoing support. Character Education/Drug Awareness Week This is a week long event emphasizing specific character traits and drug awareness. The schools are offered different types of learning exercises that the teachers and students can choose to participate in. One exercise is the “Drug Free Me” calendar contest. Students draw what “Drug Free Me” means to them. 13 are chosen and a calendar is made for the upcoming school year. Kick Off to Character Puppet Show For the past several years Learning for Life has offered our participating Elementary Schools a puppet show focusing on character education themes. The shows are based around one of the nine character traits found in the Learning for Life program. These shows are not only educational but fun and exciting for the students, teachers and school administrators. The puppet shows are performed by Katie Adams of the Make Believe Theatre. Outdoor Family Funfest Family involvement is a major component of the Learning for Life program. Each Spring Learning for Life hosts a fun and entertaining event for students and their parents. Local youth serving organizations are invited to provide a fun booth or activity for the students to participate in. Other forms of entertainment are available, as well as learning opportunities, food, music and much, much more. The event is free to students and their families and works to enhance family involvement. Outdoor Education Events Outdoor Education Events are offered to schools as a way to extend Character Education outside of the classroom. Elementary Teachers are encouraged to utilize this opportunity to educate their students on Character Education as it applies outside of the educational environment. Middle School and Senior High Schools are encouraged to utilize the Outdoor Education opportunity to emphasize the school to career aspect of the Learning for Life program. Sunshine State Standards and Hillsborough County Benchmarks YO (Youth Opportunities) This is a program offered to Middle and High School students which affords them the opportunity to get involved in community service. Students can sign up through their Guidance Counselor or Career Specialist. The forms are then submitted to us and we match them with youth opportunities that we have on file with community organizations including our Character Reads For Fun program. Students receive community service hours which are required in some areas to graduate. Character Reads for Fun This is a program which supports the “Just Read, Florida” program and works as a mentoring program. Volunteers are paired with a student (nominated by their teacher) who is challenged by reading. The couple work together, one on one, 1 hour a week for 9 weeks on increasing the reading ability of the student. This mentoring program increases the students reading enjoyment while enabling character education discussions between mentor and student Community Awareness Events The Hillsborough County Alternative Schools request that their students participate in two community awareness events annually. There is one event in the fall and one in the spring. The school administration works with Learning for Life to determine the scope of each community event. Once the preliminary details are confirmed, each schools student body will choose the exact community event they wish to participate in and who will be the beneficiary. Community Awareness events offer the Alternative School students and opportunity to give back to the community. Character Stars Character Stars is a monthly event that offers each school the opportunity to recognize one or more students who have demonstrated outstanding character behavior. Learning for Life chooses one character trait to focus on per month. Teachers are then asked to nominate a seeker, a discoverer, a challenger and a champion who have demonstrated outstanding displays of this character trait. The nominees are forwarded to the school Guidance Counselor or Career Specialist. One nominee is chosen for each level and forwarded to the Learning for Life committee for final selection and recognition. In-School Suspension Specific Holidays or Occasions We match our lessons with specific holidays or themes and deliver the lesson plan correlations to the school’s in advance for preparation. i.e.: Black History Month, Earth Day, etc. SAFE (Storytellers Are Fun Entertainment) Companies throughout the community choose a school to support and provide storytellers upon request ( no more than one time a month per class).
Volunteers dress up or act out as they read a story that relates to good |
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