Teaching character through Congressional Medal of Honor

     Veterans Day is a great opportunity to thank our servicemen and servicewomen who have sacrificed a part or all of their life for our country. However, Monticello Schools are also looking at ways for students to embrace those that have served our country throughout the school year. Acts of service and personal sacrifice to help others is something the district is looking to foster in students as part of the district’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

     In February of 2017, Monticello Middle School and High School teachers took part in Congressional Medal of Honor training at the Jones County Youth Development Center. The goal of the program is to teach character education to youth through the stories of characteristics of courage, commitment, integrity, citizenship, sacrifice, and patriotism.

     The program teaches teenagers there is an obligation that each of us has to our fellow citizens, schoolmates, and our community. Obviously a large part of the Medal of Honor program focuses on the Medal of Honor recipients and their stories. How they chose to serve and how that affected their lives and the lives of those around them.

     The Medal of Honor program also contains lessons, which have a non-military theme. This portion of the program focuses on citizen honors, which are everyday people that go to great lengths to fulfill this obligation to others. Citizens Honors include single acts of heroism, service to others, and a young hero award that focuses on youth. The single act of heroism is when a citizen does something brave such as entering a burning building to rescue someone inside. The service to others award is given to someone who has done many years of service to a group or organization and has sacrificed greatly for their benefit. The youth award is looking for the same characteristics, but is specifically saved for those heroes ages 8-18.

     At the high school level, the PBIS team has been using the Medal of Honor activities and lessons to focus each month on one character trait encouraged through the Medal of Honor Foundation. Using the part of the school day known as “What I Need” (or WIN) time, students and teachers watch a video of one of the Medal of Honor recipients and then complete an activity in groups of individually. Some individual teachers have also chosen to use some of the materials to supplement their own classroom curriculum.

     At the middle school level, the program is being incorporated into the regular social studies curriculum. Congressional Medal of Honor activities are also focused on a monthly theme tied to the Medal of Honor character traits. Lessons are taught at different points throughout each month to support the middle school’s implementation of social studies curriculum at PBIS.

     Although a sense of patriotism and community pride is promoted and encouraged through the Medal of Honor educational programs, they stress community action and involvement, not necessarily military involvement. The program shows that military service is a great way to serve your community and country, but that there are other ways as well. By being Respectful, Safe, Caring, Responsible, and having Integrity, we hope our students grow into positive, active members serving the community.

     Monticello HS Intervention Specialist Todd Hospodarsky and MMS History Teacher Laura Schmitt also contributed to this article.