By Mark Tallman

I visited Bickerdyke Elementary School in Russell USD 407, which was recognized in spring 2023 as an “emerging school of character.” Leaders shared that their character education program allows the school to set its own priorities for character development, which have focused on building relationships with students, families and the community.

“Going through the process to be a school of character means asking a lot of questions,” said counselor Miranda Nunez. “What are the things that your building really focuses on? What are the goals in your building? What are the standards your building is trying to implement? Because each building and district is so different. We have a great community, but we have a lot of kids, just like many schools, that just need some extra love and some extra support, and so we really focus on building relationships.”

Bickerdyke Principal Dr. Andrew Dempewolf explained, “Relationships is probably the number one focus, but it also goes with how we interact with one another. This month, we'll see a lot of activities focusing on respect. Next month, this focus is responsibility, so each month we're trying to focus on a different skill.”

Dempewolf said the character education emphasis was developed as part of the Kansas Educational System Accreditation (KESA) process. Russell is using the Character Strong program to support its efforts. At Bickerdyke, a grade 2-5 building, students are placed into multi-grade “crew” groups, each led by a classroom teacher. The groups stay the same throughout the student’s time in the school to foster relationships among older and younger students and the teacher, so there is continuity from year to year. The groups focus on character education issues twice a month, once led by Nunez and once developed by each teacher.

“In my group, I'm going to do a lesson about just kind of identifying emotions,” she explained the day I visited. “We're going to tie that in with our theme for this month, which is respect. How do we still show respect even if we're feeling different emotions?”

Another example of relationship-building I saw when visiting is the Bickerdyke Buds, a group of men from the community who volunteer to greet students each Friday morning in the parking lot before students enter the building. “We had a group of male parents who were involved with the school, like with the PTO, but they wanted to do something on their own,” said Dempewolf. “So, on Friday mornings, they come to the school and just hang out to welcome the kids. It's really informal. They walk around and tell you to have a great day. They honestly check in on certain kids that they pick up on that are having a rough morning and try to get them off to a good start. Afterward, these guys all go out for coffee.”

Counselor Miranda Nunez explained why social, emotional and character education is so important – and why she chose to go into school counseling. “While I was still teaching, I realized that I was spending so much of my time dealing with emotional regulation and just helping my kids function as people before we could really get to things like math and reading or any other educational content. I really feel if a kid is dysregulated, that's not just going to affect that child; it's going to affect your whole class. We have to get them to feel like they are ready to learn if we are going to improve their reading and math.”

KASB has featured all three Kansas districts honored through the Kansas State Schools of Character Recognition Program. The program is sponsored by Character.org, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) and the Smoky Hill Education Service Center. Click here to read more about the history of character education in Kansas public schools and the other districts recognized in 2023.