Virginia students influence Government 911 law

Virginia law now requires local agencies to accept text messages to 911, thanks to a bill crafted by four Centreville High School students as part of their U.S. government class.

There is often a perceived gap between the “ivory tower” of academia and the “real world.” The U.S. government class builds concrete application into students’ study of civics and government. It bridges the gap between classroom and real world application. As such it is enormously empowering to the students. Institute of Advanced Studies in Culture researchers have shown that a thick moral culture is developed best from hands-on experience. “‘Thick’ moral reasoning and discourse is not abstract, but concrete; bounded by the history, tradition, and the practices of lived experience in particular communities.” This program matches these characteristics.

Each year, students in the Northern Virginia school work in pairs to identify problems and craft legislation to solve them. For the past dozen years, Centerville government teachers have select the best proposals and forwarded them to Sen. George L. Barker,  from Alexandria who introduces the legislation on behalf of students, The Washington Post reports.

This year, two groups of students banded together after coming up with the same idea to make 911 accessible by text, and they then lobbied lawmakers to turn their idea into reality. Student Daniel Strauch told the news site he wasn’t very politically involved until he started working on the project.

“It definitely has inspired me and changed how I feel about my government,” he said.

Fellow senior Arko Mazumder said the experience of tracking the legislation through the General Assembly and testifying at committees was eye-opening, and helped to improve his public speaking skills.

“I’m seeing it all unfold in such a spectacular way,” Mazumder said.

Strauch and Mazumder partnered with students Thu Le and Rodolfo Faccini on the 911 texting bill, which Barker told the Post could make a big difference in the lives of people living with hearing impairments.

The bill, which Baker said was simple and affordable, easily cleared both the Senate and House before Gov. Ralph Northam signed the measure into law last month.

The Post reports Centreville students have successfully ushered in other laws over the years, as well, including a requirement for seat belts for children, and increased penalties for texting while driving.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students will find information, strategies and lesson plans at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.

Students step up to change classmate’s life with service dog

Members of East High School’s Key Club saw an opportunity to change a fellow student’s life, and they’re making it happen.

Nick Mace, a senior at the Pueblo, Colorado high school, will graduate this year despite numerous medical complications in his life that result in regular seizures, which means he can never spend time alone, Fox 21 reports.

“There is not a time when Nicolas is not with someone who can help take care of him,” Mace’s mother, Mary Ruff, told the news site. “He’s almost 18, the boy needs some independence.”

The family found a solution – a dog named Maddy from the Pikes Peak Human Society – but could not afford to train the dog to work as Mace’s service companion. That’s when East High’s Key Club stepped in, partnering with the East High School Boosters Club to set up a GoFundMe page with goal of raising $3,500 for the training, food and supplies.

The fundraiser generated more than $2,200 from 23 donors in the first month, and is well on the way to meeting the goal.

This story demonstrates that learning the value of serving others does not need a big program or a big investment. Opportunities are all around us for those with eyes to see. Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture argue that “the moral and missional ethos of a school was reinforced through a range of practices, or routinized actions all oriented toward giving tangible expressions to the school’s values and beliefs.” The reward of helping others is catching.

“This is probably the most impactful project I have ever been a part of because I get to see how it’s actually going to help, in my community, in my school,” Key Club President Jacquelyn Arellano told Fox 21.

“You can’t put a price tag on what these kids did for another person,” club sponsor Janae Passalaqua said. “There is no better feeling than doing something for someone else.”

Mace suffered from bilateral club feet as an infant, and later developed Kawasaki’s disease, which led to multiple giant coronary aneurysms. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child, which caused his ongoing seizures.

“It has been increasingly worse seizures, increasingly poor short-term memory and even long-term memory is being affected,” Ruff said, adding that she’s grateful to students who stepped up to help her son do more on his own.

Mace, meanwhile, is pretty excited himself.

“She is just going to be there, like a friend,” he said of Maddy.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship in their students will find information, strategies and lesson plans at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.

Week of Service connects students with local nonprofits to build community

A “Week of Service” at Penn State New Kensington School put students in the community helping local nonprofits and other causes, from a no-kill animal shelter to serving patrons at a “pay what you can” café.

The student government at Penn State’s New Kensington campus initially planned to hold two service events in March, but numerous campus clubs and individual students helped to expand the effort to a total of seven projects over the course of a week, according to Penn State News.

Students visited the Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, to help the animal shelter transition to a new 10,000-square-foot building by clearing out the site’s basement and sorting items for donations and the dumpster. Students also donated puppy rugs they crafted from old shirts during orientation.

“To help any organization in the community, it gives (students) a very broad view of all the things that go on in the community,” Phyllis Framel, board president of Animal Protectors, told the news site. “There are a lot of nonprofits, especially in this area, and they do a lot of good work. To get students exposed, I think, helps them form an idea of what’s done in the community, but also what they may want to do in the future in their communities as a professional or as a volunteer.”

Members of New Kensington’s Biobehavioral Health Club also went to the Knead Community Café to help clean and serve food, as did many other students who were not affiliated with the club. The Outdoor Adventure Club volunteered at the Murrysville Community Center March for Parks 5K, where they helped youth with craft projects at the event.

Others went to Seneca Place to host bingo for senior citizens at the nursing facility.

Students also collected toiletries to craft care packages for victims of domestic violence served by the Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center, donated to a blood drive on campus, and held an event to raise awareness about efforts to fight childhood cancer.

“It really shows what Penn State is all about, helping our community and other people in general,” said junior Ian Callender, who helped at several events.

Michele Marcks, assistant director of student affairs, told Penn State News the “Week of Service” is one way the university inspires students to serve their communities throughout the year.

Hands-on experience is the best teacher. Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture sociologist James Davison Hunter explains that the communitarian strategy for moral development highlights that “individuals are social creatures inextricably embedded in their communities…. Experience was always a precursor to the possession of character and practical wisdom, for it schools the individual in the range of circumstances within which the virtues would find expression.”

“Just giving back is obviously very important, and it’s one of our Penn State values to make sure we’re part of the community, and we’re getting our students to really embody that,” Marcks said.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students will find useful information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. The Jubilee Centre site also contains teachers lesson plans on character and moral formation.

NC fifth-graders’ message of hope inspires CA students displaced by wildfires, mudslides

When fifth-graders at The Raleigh School in North Carolina learned about students displaced by wildfires and mudslides in California, they wanted to do something to lift their spirits.

Raleigh School teacher Jennifer Brunetti explained to students how her relatives and students in Carpentaria, Calif. lost everything in the wake of the natural disasters, so they decided to make a video to offer some hope, WRAL reports.

“At The Raleigh School, we see social emotional skills as being very valued and it’s something we teach every day,” Brunetti told the news site. “We just decided as a class that we wanted to do something kind.”

The video featured personal messages of encouragement from students at The Raleigh School, artwork with inspiring quotes like “After rain comes rainbows” and “don’t be blue,” and a chorus of youngsters singing “Lean On Me.”

“We thought that California was going through a lot, and we thought it would be really nice if they had some support,” student Addie Canady told WRAL.

“We saw they were going through a struggle and we wanted to help them feel better,” classmate Gaya Gupta added.

Classmate Jimmy Passe said students “wanted to create the video because it was good to support them and help them get through this hard moment.”

Though this act of kindness was well intentioned and was based on high moral principles, researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture caution that merely connecting emotionally will not provide a necessary foundation for moral conduct and good character. They conclude, “There is little or no association, causal or otherwise, between psychological well-being and moral conduct.”

The fifth-graders sent the video to students at The Family School in California, and received a video back in late April. That video featured California students alongside new shoots growing from charred soil, students painting signs of thanks for area firefighters and police who battled the blazes, and thanks for the well-wishes from North Carolina.

“That almost made me cry happy tears,” one student said. “That was so nice.”

“They were helping us through everything by just that one little song,” another student said. “But the little things go a long way.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. The Jubilee Centre site also features lesson plans for teacher use.

Immigrant custodian honored for positive influence at ID elementary school

Mustafa Ocanavic wears a lot of hats at Boise’s Taft Elementary School – custodian, counselor, cafeteria DJ, student safety monitor, mentor and friend.

But most people at the Idaho elementary simply refer to Ocanavic as the “heart” of Taft, where he’s worked as a custodian for the last 11 years.

Ocanavic was born in Bosnia but moved to the U.S. and gained American citizenship before landing his school job. Since that time, he’s worked to treat the students and staff at Taft as “family,” and his efforts have not gone unnoticed, KTVB reports.

“This person greets a lot of you every morning when you come in before school,” Principal Tim Lowe told students who recently gathered in the cafeteria for a special ceremony for “Mr. Mustafa.” “This is our chance to tell Mustafa thank you, so give him a big round of applause.”

Mustafa demonstrates the moral influence of an involved adult in the lives of students. Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture argue that case studies consistently show “the importance of the informal articulation of a moral culture through the example of teachers and other adults in the school community.” Mustafa’s involvement with the students consistently showed care, safety, and fun. It is a winning combination born from his past struggles.

“I come from a very troubled area of Bosnia, … and I found a new home and I am thankful for this,” Ocanavic told students. “And you guys my family.”

Lowe told the news site Ocanavic’s background as an immigrant with military experience has fit well with students and staff at Taft.

“We have an awful lot of families that struggle for a lot of reasons,” Lowe said. “The fact that he was an immigrant himself, he has a special understanding of a lot of our kids who come here from different countries and what it’s like to learn a new language and to be immersed in American culture.”

Ocanavic is also “a significant part of making sure Taft is a safe school, and these days it’s such an important issue,” Lowe said. “He has a military background that he applies every day here and he is really a stickler.”

Ocanavic said he goes out of his way to help students simply because it’s the right thing to do.

“I try to help those kids,” he said. “It’s not in my job description but I put myself in that position, those kids need help, talk.”

Ocanavic said he also enjoyes playing music for kids at lunch on Fridays, when he become his alter-ego, “DJ Moose.”

“The kids love it and we like to dance – first eat – then dance a little bit,” he said.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. In The Jubilee Centre’s own words, the following illustrates how the Centre views its work.  “The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of character virtues in both individuals and society.”

OH schools host ‘Veteran Appreciation Game’ to honor military servicemen and women

Two Ohio communities of Miamisburg and Bellbrook came together this month to honor military veterans with a Veteran Appreciation Game between high school baseball teams.

Some of the finest schools in terms of advancing moral character are found in rural public schools. Miamisburg and Bellhook have a population of 20,000 and 11,000 respectively. Here in the rural Midwest, researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture found three spheres of moral obligation were common: immigration, religious responsibility, and military service. Here military service is appreciated. It’s a “clear expectation that people respect and honor those serving, those who had served, and those students thinking about joining.”

“It’s just a way for us to honor people what don’t normally get enough credit,” Miamisburg head coach Steve Kurtz told Dayton Daily News.

The April 21st outing kicked off at Miamisburg High School with players on both teams greeting veterans with a firm handshake, and a 21-gun salute. The opening ceremony also included taps, the national anthem, and a team of professional skydivers, who brought in the ball for the first pitch.

Gold star father Paul Zanowick, whose son Marine Cpl. Paul “Ricky” Zanowick II was killed in Afghanistan, did the honors.

“Not everywhere in the country is there so much care and concern for the military, but it is here,” Zanowick said.

His wife, Nanette, was also moved by the community support.

“I’m very touched and very proud of this community and what we do for veterans and they honored our son today to make it extra special,” she said.

Organizers sold commemorative t-shirts at the game and donated the profits to the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida based nonprofit that works to help veterans who’ve served since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Nearly a half-million veterans suffer from physical injuries from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including as many as 400,000 that suffer from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“With the support of our community of donors and team members, we give a voice to those needs and empower our warriors to begin the journey of recovery,” according to the project’s website.

Kurtz told the Daily News he’s proud of his community’s support for veterans, and it was obvious at the recent game that it has a significant impact.

“It’s good to see that they smile and they know that we do care and are extremely grateful for what they’ve done for us,” he said.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. In The Jubilee Centre’s own words, the following illustrates how the centre views its work.  “The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of character virtues in both individuals and society.”

Study: NYC charter school students more likely to vote than traditional school peers

A new study commissioned by a New York City charter school shows students who attended the school were significantly more likely to vote, a reality officials credit to a focus on civics engrained in the school’s culture.

The Democracy Prep charter school network commissioned independent researchers to examine city charter school admissions data to determine what, if any, impact applying to and attending Democracy Prep schools has on civic participation later in life, and the results were not surprising.

Chalkbeat reports:

Looking at more than a thousand students who applied between 2007 and 2015 who were old enough to vote in 2016, the researchers found that just being selected in the admissions lottery was correlated with a slight increase in voting rates. Students who were chosen voted 6 percent more often than students who were not.

The impact was much greater on students who were chosen and actually enrolled.

“Democracy Prep provides a test case of whether charter schools can successfully serve the foundational purpose of public education – preparation for citizenship – even while operating outside the direct control of elected officials,” researchers wrote. “With respect to the critical civic participation measures of registration and voting, the answer is yes.”

It is not surprising that a school so named and infused with civic education across the curriculum has a lasting impact on the behaviors of its students. While charter schools are diverse in their core emphases, researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture found that since “Students and their families must choose that school, there is power in wanting to see one’s choice as correct.” Students at these schools came to believe in the school’s values over time.

Democracy Prep officials contend the results show the charter network’s approach to civics is effective. Seth Andrew, who founded the first Democracy Prep in Harlem in 2006, told Chalkbeat civic participation is weaved into the school’s culture and academics. Students are required to conduct their own “Change the World” project and pass a citizenship exam to graduate.

“This idea of ‘change the world’ was very central to what we were trying to get our kids prepared and excited to do,” he said.

Democracy Prep CEO Katie Duffy explained that the charter network goes well beyond a simple civics class to get kids involved by volunteering the schools as polling stations on election days, as well as student-led “Vote for Somebody” campaigns to encourage participation in the primary election.

“The more you talk about the importance of voting, the importance of elections, the importance of advocacy,” she said, “the more it becomes ingrained in our kids.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. In The Jubilee Centre’s own words, the following illustrates how the centre views its work.  “The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of charter virtues in both individuals and society.”

MO student’s anti-bullying anthem earns class trip to Nashville recording studio

A Missouri 10-year-old didn’t like the way some of her classmates were treating kids in her school, so she wrote an anti-bullying anthem to inspire change.

And Emme Rogers’ song, “Stand Up,” is not only making a difference at her elementary school in Carthage, it’s gained the attention of an international nonprofit that’s now paying for her to professionally record the anthem in Nashville, Tennessee, KSNF reports.

“I just felt like there were people in my school that were being bullied and they just didn’t want to tell anybody,” Rogers said.

Rogers, an aspiring singer and songwriter, posted Stand Up to iTunes and Spotify, and a flood of positive feedback caught the attention of ChildFund, an international nonprofit that works to provide nutrition, medical care and education to children in impoverished countries.

“It’s tough being a kid. I knew it was important, what she had to say, but I didn’t know it would be as relevant as it has been recently,” Kacey Baugh-Lee, Rogers’ music teacher at Maple Leave Music Company, told KSNF.

Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture reinforce the positive efficacy of “mottoes, honor codes, school assemblies, mission statements, dress codes, statues, stories, student handbooks, and contracts outlining behavior expectations. They all contribute to the relative thickness or thinness of each school’s moral ecology.” Emme’s anthem plays an important role in this school.

“We’re trying to equip students with the power of music, so that they can go out and change their community and the world and so … we try to apply that in our lessons.”

It’s an inspiration Rogers said she’s taking to heart.

“It makes me feel like I am a voice for the people that are being bullied,” Rogers said.

Thanks to ChildFund, Rogers will soon head to Nashville with her music teacher and 20 other students to professionally record her anti-bullying anthem, and to attend a song-writing workshop.

In exchange, Rogers agreed to help ChildFund find sponsors for 30 children the organization supports.

“Being willing to speak and be a voice for kids,” Baugh-Lee said, “we’re just proud, just so proud of her.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of character virtues in both individuals and society.

Pilot who saved 148 passengers on Southwest 1380 a ‘true American hero’

Alfred Tumlinson, passenger on Southwest Airlines flight 1380, told the Associated Press that Southwest pilot Capt. Tammie Jo Shults has “nerves of steel.”

Another passenger, Diana McBride Self, describes the former U.S. Navy fighter pilot as “a true American Hero.”

On April 17, Shults’ decade of experience in the military undoubtedly factored into her calm composure when one of two engines on the Boeing 737 exploded in route from New York to Dallas. The explosion blew out one of the windows in the plane, spraying shrapnel inside as pressure pulled a passenger halfway out the window,  The Washington Post reports.

Shults’ character under fire was forged through years of military socialization. Her grit, calm, courage, and care were all evidenced in this unexpected crisis. This kind of moral character, researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture claim is strengthened through “a range of practices and routinized actions.” The crisis only reveals the embodied habits of action that amount to a hero’s character.“Southwest 1380, we’re single engine,” Shults told air traffic controllers as she guided the hobbled plane to Philadelphia International Airport for an emergency landing. “We have part of the aircraft missing, so we’re going to need to slow it down a bit.”

Shults requested medical assistance to meet the plane on the runway, where she made a relatively smooth, 190 mph landing, saving the lives of 148 people aboard. One passenger, 43-year-old mother of two, Jennifer Riordan, was the only fatality. Passengers managed to pull Riordan back into the plane when she was sucked out the window but were unable to revive her when she went into cardiac arrest, the Associated Press reports.

Despite the chaos in the cabin, numerous passengers credited Shults with maintaining control of the situation, both by calming passengers over the intercom and safely landing the massive jet.

“She was talking to us very calmly,” Tumlinson said. “’We’re descending, we’re not going down, we’re descending, just stay calm, brace yourselves.’”

“She was so cool when she brought that down into the Philadelphia airport,” Tumlinson said. “Everybody just was applauding. I’m just telling you they were just applauding. It was amazing that we made it to the ground.”

Passengers said Shults came back to the cabin after landing to personally check on them.

Those who know Shults weren’t particularly surprised by her heroics. Shults’ mother-in-law, Virginia Shults, described the mother of two as “a very calming person,” and a devout Christian.

Others recalled how she pursued a career in military aviation when women were discouraged, then thrived in the male-dominated industry where she eventually met her pilot husband, who also flies for Southwest.

“My brother says she’s the best pilot he knows,” said brother-in-law Gary Shults, who described Shults as a “formidable woman, as sharp as a tack. “She’s a very caring, giving person who takes care of lots of people.”

Shults declined to comment about the ordeal, other than a prepared, joint statement with first officer Darren Ellisor.

“As Captain and First Officer of the Crew of five who worked to serve our Customers aboard Flight 1380 yesterday, we all feel we were simply doing our jobs,” the statement read. “Our hearts are heavy. On behalf of the entire Crew, we appreciate the outpouring of support from the public and our coworkers as we all reflect on one family’s profound loss.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. In The Jubilee Centre’s own words, the following illustrates how the centre views its work.  “The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of character virtues in both individuals and society.”

‘Changed the way I carry myself’: Students, parents tout benefits of military academy

Parents of Hargrave Military Academy graduates recently explained the reasons why they opted to send their children to the highly structured Virginia private school for boys, and it centers on one word: character.

David Renaker, whose son Corey Renaker graduated from Hargrave in 2016, told WRAL the discipline at the military academy helped to limit distractions from social media, video games and other time wasters to help his son focus on what’s most important.

“The changes that have been made in Corey are dramatic. He’s a different person. He’s respectful, prompt, cares about what’s going on, and cares about his future,” David Renaker said. “I can’t say those were character traits he had before going to Hargrave. Hargrave made a tremendous difference in his life and ours.”

The single-sex, academically rigorous environment focuses a lot on students’ post-graduation success, both by forming character strengths to help them persevere and offering more challenging courses than traditional high schools, parents said.

Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture contrast the prevalent views of school culture: “There is a skeptical view that suggests that tight social networks of oversight provide an ongoing surveillence over young people, giving them little room to experiment or make mistakes. The more positive construction would be that a close community provides a watchful and loving attentiveness that allows the young person to thrive.” The social ecology of a school is determinative in character formation.

“Because of Hargrave, his GPA has risen, he got a full four-year scholarship to Alabama, plus an engineering scholarship on top of that,” said Calyx Harris, whose son Hayden Bressoud graduated from Hargrave in 2017. “He found fraternity and camaraderie here at Hargrave; it’s just been a fantastic experience.”

Like many private schools, Hargrave expects students to adhere to strict schedules and rules of decorum, and stresses self-discipline. Parents and students said the structure, along with school uniforms, expected code of conduct, and other rules contribute to a sense of safety and order that’s often absent from public schools.

Shaq Lawson, a 2012 Hargrave grad who was drafted to the NFL in 2016, told WRAL he credits his success in large part to the military-style regimen.

“I believe God put me on the right path to be successful. If I hadn’t gone to Hargrave, I’d have had a much harder time adjusting to life at Clemson in my freshman year,” he said. “Going to Hargrave changed the way I carry myself. It made me more accountable, more responsible, more of a man.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.