By: Ashley Winterstein

With 111 character coaches volunteering an hour each week in local classrooms, the Character Counts! Advisory Council has much to be thankful for this year. These generous citizens are the reason the values of the Six Pillars of Character (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship) have reached thousands of students in Queen Anne’s County over the past ten years.

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, the Character Counts! Advisory Council wanted to take an evening to celebrate these character coaches and hosted a Coaches Recognition Dinner at the Bay Country Moose Lodge on May 6, 2010.

Coordinating the celebration with Staff Appreciation Week couldn’t have been more appropriate, as these coaches are the backbone of the grassroots program which aims to strengthen the character traits of the students of Queen Anne’s County.

Jacki Carter, Queen Anne’s County Character Counts! Coordinator, expressed her admiration and appreciation for all of the character coaches who participated this year and stated after the celebration, “They teach our students from Pre-K to 9th grade important life skills. They are role models that act on what they teach. They make learning fun in a variety of ways. Our coaches are truly mentoring our future citizens.  And they do all of this because they believe in building our children’s character and do not get paid which really impresses the students. According to Independent Sector, the cost of a volunteer in today’s economy is $20.25 per hour. Our volunteer coach force would cost $71, 928. Their impact on our students is priceless! We could not maintain this initiative without them. They are the foundation of Character Counts in Queen Anne’s County.”

For their many hours of hard work and dedication, the coaches in attendance were treated to a catered dinner and slide show presentation of past Character Counts! events and activities. Each coach was individually recognized and awarded a certificate, pin, and packet of personal notes from their students.

Carter shared a few of the student comments with the audience at the celebration, including, “Thank you for making me a better person.
You know what you are talking about and give incredible advice.
You have taught me a lot and now I can teach it to my siblings.
You have taught us how to deal with bullies…a good skill to have.
I like you in our room.
You make me shine bright when I see you come in and it would be cool if
you could follow me to middle school.

As the Pillar of the Month for May, Caring was the focus of discussions, lessons, and activities for character coaches’ end-of-the year presentations. It should not be a difficult topic to explain, as these heartfelt comments show the level of caring that already exists between the students and character coaches. It is a wonderful compliment to the work of these coaches that the students enjoy being around them, wish they could follow them to the next grade or school, and have taught lessons that they in turn share with their friends and family.

The Character Counts! Advisory Council would like to thank the 111 character coaches that volunteered their time this year to spend building better citizens. We would also like to thank the school and community support that has made this initiative not only possible, but successful.

For more information about the Character Counts! program in Queen Anne’s County, please contact Jacki Carter at 410-758-6677 or jcarter@qac.org.  Queen Anne’s County Character Counts! is a part of QAC Community Partnerships for Children and Families, our local management board.