SCOTT M. MATHESON JR. HIGH RECOGNIZED FOR ‘PROMISING PRACTICE’ IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 

 

 

Character Education Partnership selects winners to be honored in October

June 13, 2008 . . . Washington, DC – Over 130 schools and districts from around the United States as well as from Canada and Mexico will receive 153 awards for “Promising Practices” in character education. Matheson Jr. High will receive an award for Teen Day Forums and Parent/Teen Night Forums.

The Character Education Partnership (CEP) gives the annual awards for unique and specific exemplary practices that encourage the ethical, social, and academic growth of K–12 students through character education. By publicizing these awards, CEP hopes to recognize educators for their efforts and to encourage others to learn from and even replicate these successful initiatives.   

Winning practices included creative ways to engage parents and community members, encourage student voice and leadership, and offer students opportunities to serve others. “These educators have found exciting new ways to help and encourage all members of their school communities to be more involved and more caring,” stated Lara Maupin, program coordinator. “The results are kids that feel connected and are therefore more ready and able to learn.”

Rebecca Ibarra, Scott Matheson Jr., Robin Matheson, Stella Hageman

      
Matheson Jr. High, (Marijean Woolf, Principal) involves students, staff, parents and community members when holding forums for students, parents and the community. Several student forums are held during the year. Many are held for students during the day while others are held at night with parents and community members invited. The most recent night forum, "Staying Safe on the Information Highway" informed parents of internet safety and provided literature to make parents more aware of internet dangers. This Night Forum held a record high of 356 participants. Many other important topics include: Gangs 101, Leadership, Survival techniques, Goal setting, Law and Order, Media Literacy, and Immigration Issues. Scott M. Matheson Jr. was a speaker at a Night Forum and later presented the school with a large portrait of his father, the former Utah Governor, that is now on display in the school Commons area. This forum provided students with information as to who the school was named for and it helped  make a connection to the Matheson family.

 

Rebecca Ibarra, Matheson's lead teacher for the Community of Caring, says, "Matheson's forums have helped build good character in our school" and states that, "several parents have thanked us for the opportunity to attend forums with their students and for the valuable information they received."  Rebecca Ibarra has been the lead teacher at Matheson for the past six years and has seen "an incredible amount of improvement" in school behavior since the Community of Caring program became part of the school culture and climate. With a committee of teachers, parents, administrators and students, Rebecca plans to continue planning forums for Magna's community. "They have become part of the 'Matheson Way'."

Matheson Jr. High will receive its award(s) at the 15th Annual National Forum on Character Education to be held October 17-19, 2008, in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. In addition, all winning practices will be featured in CEP’s annual National Schools of Character publication and on the CEP Web site.

The Promising Practices awards program is administered by CEP and made possible by generous support from the John Templeton Foundation, the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, and Lockheed Martin. Based in Washington, D.C., CEP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to helping schools develop people of good character for a just and compassionate society. To learn more about CEP and its national awards programs, visit www.character.org.