Charyl Stockwell will expand education program to more schools in state

Friday, August 04, 2006

News Staff Reporter

A Hartland Township charter school will receive a U.S. Department of Education grant to expand a character education program it originated into more Michigan charter schools.

Charyl Stockwell Academy will get $428,799 each year for four years, for a total of $1.7 million, from the Partnerships in Character Education Program to develop its Smart Character Choices program in four charter schools.

In a research project, those four schools will be grouped with four other state charter schools not using Smart Character Choices to determine if the character education lessons have an affect on student grades, attitudes and behavior, said Diane Vance, program director

All participating schools will be chosen by the Central Michigan University Charter Schools Office and the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, Vance said.

Charyl Stockwell Academy received a similar four-year $1.6 million federal grant four years ago to pioneer Smart Character Choices in its kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms, as well as at Howell's Kensington Woods High School and Grand Traverse Academy. A University of Minnesota professor compared the three charter schools to three anonymous charter schools not in the program, Vance said.

When you look at the data from year to year, the student outcomes and behaviors and their connectivity to the school and their relationships with teachers all increased at the schools in the program,'' she said.

Jim Perry, Kensington Woods High School principal, echoes Vance's pleasure.

This program got the students to look at and realize that what they do and say affects everyone around them,'' Perry said. We saw a reduction in negative behavior all across the board.''

Receiving another grant to expand the program affirms that Smart Character Choices is on the right track, Vance said. The money will additional research, pay for a character education coordinator in each school and teach teachers how to teach character education, which includes lessons on ethics, citizenship, justice, responsibility and respect for self and others.

Smart Character Choices also has an American history section that uses historical characters and events to demonstrate good and bad character traits, Vance said. A similar set of lessons geared to American literature is being added, she said.

Charyl Stockwell is one of 35 schools and education agencies chosen from a field of 227 applicants to share $15.5 million in Partnerships in Character Education Program grants this year.

Charyl Stockwell and Kensington Woods High School are managed by CS Partners, a company that also oversees Ann Arbor Learning Community, Hillsdale Preparatory Academy, Roseville's Connor Creek Academy East and Sterling Heights' Huron Academy charter schools.

Leanne Smith can be reached at lsmith@livingstoncommunitynews.com or at 810-844-2011.