Planting the Seeds of Virtue in Character Class

Summertime is often full of gardening, with the right combination of rainfall and sunshine producing fresh fruit, vegetables, and herbs for our meals. However, every amateur gardener knows that seeds will only bloom in good soil. If the terrain is rocky or full of weeds, the seeds will wither and die.

Similarly, if a person learns the "seeds of virtue," and is continually striving to practice those virtues in his or her life, he or she will bloom and grow into the person that God created them to be. Striving to practice human virtues will help us each to become "good soil" and grow in virtue.

 
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Summit Character Classes

One of the ways that the Summit Olympics truly stands out as a summer program for kids is the emphasis on virtue-based character development. In addition to a Math and Reading class, where Summit students review concepts they learned during the school year and prepare for school in the fall, students have a daily Character class where they learn about a different virtue each day and set goals to incorporate that virtue in their everyday lives.

Students focus on a virtue each class like Obedience, Respect, Forgiveness, Generosity, Responsibility, Honesty, Helpfulness, Perseverance, Modesty, and many others throughout the Summer Olympics Program. Counselors try to make each lesson interactive with different activities like role playing, short stories, and discussions to help students better grasp the meaning of each virtue, and how it can be used day to day.

 
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Daniela Puts Virtues into Practice 

When Summit 7th grader Daniela T. arrived at Summit this morning, she proudly told her counselor, Miss Nataly, that she woke up at 4 a.m. this morning to finish reading the last 80 pages of Heat, one of the Read-A-Thon books, and had put the "Hard Work" they had discussed in Character Class a couple of weeks ago into practice. "I wanted to reach my goal of reading 700 pages this summer. I already read 600 pages, and I knew that this would let me reach my goal. It was a challenge, but I knew that I could do it!" Additionally, Daniela wanted to finish the book to help her team's page count so they could win the pizza party reading competition this week. What great Teamwork!

Daniela is also working on practicing the other virtues that she has learned about in Character Class. "I'm really working hard on practicing Patience at home with my family. Sometimes I get impatient with my little sister when she doesn't know how to do things. Now I am trying to help her out more instead of getting annoyed and being more patient and understanding of her. I'm also learning to be more patient with my mom; even though she gets home from work late sometimes, I try to help her out with things like doing the dishes."

 
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How Does Our Garden Grow?

Parent surveys show that their children are deeply impacted by the Character Development program at Summit. In fact, over 90% of the Summit parents surveyed have said that since coming to Summit, they have seen their children noticeably or greatly improve in the areas of:

  • Attitude towards school

  • Study habits

  • Effort in school

  • Behavior and helpfulness at home, and

  • Respect for parents and siblings.

Summit believes in the growth of the entire individual - mentally, spiritually, and physically, and addresses all of those areas within the Summer Olympics Program

Nicole Heger