Monday, April 30, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Visits Nationally Recognized School of Character
ARNOLD– Gov. Matt Blunt today visited Ridgewood Middle School to discuss CharacterPlus and character education. He talked with students and participated in the school's nationally recognized character education program at work in classrooms.
"Education is my highest priority and the importance of character is among the most valuable lessons we can teach our children," Gov. Blunt said. "Helping children understand the importance of character and integrating character education into the school day helps ensure our students are prepared to succeed academically and professionally, as well as personally."
This year, Blunt recommended and secured more than $850,000 that will go to support character education in Missouri classrooms.
Ridgewood Middle School in the Fox C-6 School District has been participating in CharacterPlus, a bi-state effort to advance the cause of character education, for several years. School leaders have used the CharacterPlus program as a guidepost to implement character education strategies at Ridgewood. Since the program was implemented test scores have gone up, discipline referrals down and grades have improved overall.
"The Fox C-6 School District is committed to producing young people who are both good students and good citizens," said Dr. Dianne Brown, Fox C-6 School District Superintendent. "Ridgewood Middle School is a shining example of character education making a difference in young people's lives. Ridgewood has focused on character education for the past six years and has experienced tremendous improvement in student achievement, behavior, and an overall positive school climate. Great things are happening in the Fox School District, we attribute many of these accomplishments to the focus on academics and character education."
At Ridgewood, the character program centers around daily character education lessons. Students prepare and teach a character lesson to their peers each day. The governor participated in a few of today's lessons that focused on cooperation.
Ridgewood Middle School is the only middle school in Missouri to have received recognition as a National School of Character. Pattonville High School in Pattonville School District, Kennerly Elementary in the Lindberg School District and the Rockwood School District have also received the National School of Character honor. A new state program has recognized Chesterfield Elementary School in the Rockwood School District, Francis Howell Middle School in the Francis Howell School District, Palmyra Elementary School in the Palmyra R-1 School District, and the Lindbergh School District as 2007 Missouri Schools of Character.
The governor has made education the state's highest priority. He has increased funding for elementary and secondary education every year he has been in office. His proposed budget for next year combined with past increases totals more than one half of a billion dollars in new funding for education in the last three years.
The governor's leadership has allowed for the expansion of Missouri's nationally recognized Parents as Teachers program and increased funding for A+ Schools. Blunt has also kept his promise that he will never withhold money approved for Missouri classrooms. He continues to identify ways to enhance Math, Engineering, Technology and Science (METS) learning in our state and hosted the first comprehensive summit to bring stakeholders together to identify solutions to current challenges in METS. In addition, his early childhood initiatives are working to ensure Missouri's youngest students get a head start on lifelong learning.
For more information about CharacterPlus, visit www.characterplus.org.