Minnesota Schools Honored at National Character Conference

 San Francisco was the backdrop for the Character Education Partnership’s (CEP) 18th National Forum on Character Education Oct. 19-22.

Lakes International Language Academy (LILA), a 2011 Minnesota School of Character and Promising Practice award recipient, attended and was honored as a NSOC finalist and Promising Practice honoree. Also attending were Sibley East High School representatives who received national honors for their Promising Practice “Sibley East School Garden.” Three other Minnesota schools, Area Learning Center in Northfield, Shirley Hills Primary in Mound and The Blake School in Minneapolis, were also honored for their Promising Practices.

LILA is a Spanish Immersion charter school in the northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities, MN. LILA was also recognized as a 2010 National School of Character “Profiles in Character” award winner by CEP. Only 18 schools across the United States were selected for the honor, which was based on an evaluation of each school’s strengths in areas such as social-emotional learning or meeting individual student needs within the CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. LILA is one of Minnesota’s fastest growing and highest performing schools.

The Sibley East School Garden began in 2010 when the Agriculture Department planted a one acre vegetable garden with the intention of providing fresh vegetables for the school lunch program. The program gave many students from different paths of life the opportunity to communicate, help each other and work together on a common goal. It increased classroom attendance and grades in students who were struggling and resulted in a more positive attitude towards school. Students became specialists in something, built confidence and used a positive attitude to educate others about a subject. The school garden provided a great teaching tool to enrich curriculum, improve physical health and build character.

Representatives from 39 states, 9 foreign countries and Puerto Rico celebrated 3 days of learning about character education and networking with passionate proponents at the National Forum. Synergy staff attended in support of the Minnesota honorees and also presented a breakout session entitled “Synergize Your State’s Character Footprint.” This session represented work of the organization on the MN State Schools of Character and Promising Practices award program along with the Ethical Citizens for Minnesota’s Future initiative.