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Editorial Dr. Avis Glaze, director of education for the school board, has been busy during the past year implementing an initiative more people will soon be hearing about -- character education. Character education involves stakeholders helping to craft a list of character attributes that help define character-based schools. Chosen characteristics are then woven into the existing curriculum to emphasize these characteristics. Shortly after she came to Peterborough, Dr. Glaze was busy striking committees, community discussions and now implementing strategies to enable the initiative to succeed. As the guiding influence for this backdrop initiative, Dr. Glaze is efficiently grafting the initiative onto the school community's psyche. The net effect is still a tale to be told. But you can bet that Dr. Glaze has catalyzed more than just a school-based initiative -- she has sparked civic engagement in no small measure. This Tuesday, civic engagement will be seen in action as the board hosts a special forum at the Peterborough Naval Association called 'Creating Communities of Character.' In the spirit of working collaboratively with community partners, the forum will serve to begin the process of moving the focus of character education deeper into the community. Mayors, reeves, councillors, police chiefs, First Nations chiefs, justices and politicians have all been invited to take part. It is explicit community outreach. Don Cousens, the mayor of Markham, successfully implemented a 'character community initiative' and will be the guest speaker at the forum. He and Dr. Glaze know each other well, given her former position as the associate director of education at the York Region District School Board. She has already spearheaded efforts to bring character
education to York Region. Now, in Peterborough, Dr. Glaze is working to
leave a lasting template of civility and perseverance here, too. Character education is just now finding its public voice in Peterborough, having been simmering in the background in a deliberate and controlled incubation. In the coming months, the entire community will benefit from its well-thought out implementation, a bridging program of community-wide proportions. |
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"You must rouse into people's consciousness their
own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character." |
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