Character education is one of the school board’s defining priorities and the Lakefield high school has met the challenge with a high level of student and staff engagement.

For instance, LEAD – a group that formed in June – stands for Lakefield Equality And Diversity. The group of students, along with staff advisors, promotes respect for equality and differences and has been the key driving force of the character education goals as the new school year began. Its goal is to improve relationships between peers, teachers and partners.

Barbara Myrvold, a child and youth worker at the high school, says there are more than 20 students in the group. Barbara is one staff advisor, along with Ellen Day.

In a main hallway, a bulletin board about LEAD promotes the values of honesty, courage, fairness and the other 10 attributes of the local school board’s character education model.
“They’re (students) really excited about things,” says Barbara.

Another bulletin board at the school changes every two weeks to zero in on a different attribute each time, a list culled from earlier public forums the board held when it solicited community input on character education.

“We’re ahead of the game here,” says Barbara of the high school’s focus. “We have a really enthusiastic focus.”

The board’s plan is that every school in its catchment area should be ready to go with full implementation of character education by next year. Character education is not something being taught in isolation but will rather be infused within the school board’s overall curricula.

There are many planned activities related to character education at the Lakefield high school, including an upcoming assembly Nov. 19 presented by the Peaceful Communities group. The presenters will talk about the results of a survey from its research, based on high school students’ input, and will present a video on violence prevention. A student from LEAD will also talk about preventing violence.

On December 8, a school assembly will feature Donna Spears. Spears is the mother of a daughter who was murdered by the daughter’s jealous boyfriend. According to Barbara, the talk is essentially about healthy relationships and will be presented to Grades 11 and 12 only for its mature subject matter.

Within the school’s sex health classes there will be discussions on tolerance and bullying, especially to do with gays and lesbians. A speaker from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays will talk with students as part of the discussion plans.

And, on May 3, Dr. Avis Glaze, director of education for the public school board, will address students in a school assembly.

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