Kids & Character 2000, Elmira, NY 1999
Partners:
The Star-Gazette’s focus on teaching values to children turned out to be eerily prescient. Just weeks after its series on the subject ran, two teenagers opened fire on classmates and teachers at Columbine High School in Colorado. The event gave the Star-Gazette’s project an added intensity, prompting more area school districts, chambers of commerce and non-profit agencies to pick up the call for character education.
The project began with two Pew-supported surveys – one of 1,000 Elmira-area junior and senior high school students; the other of 450 area adults – asking what values they felt were most important to the community. Responsibility, honesty, respect and tolerance were among the most highly valued traits. The survey results were reported in a front page story Sunday, March 14, 1999. Follow-up installments ran March 21 and 28-30.
The series was timed to coincide with local workshops given by character education specialist Louis Martinez. More than 200 people attended, many saying the newspaper series had persuaded them to go.
When Martinez returned in October, the Star-Gazette sponsored a community forum with parents, teachers, principals, counselors, police and judges on how to instill these traits in area youth.
Contact:
Jane E. Sutter (former Star-Gazette editor)
Managing Editor
Democrat and Chronicle
55 Exchange Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14614
Phone: (585) 258-2301
Email: jsutter@democratandchronicle.com