What is Character Education?
As the U.S. Department of Education states, "Character education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. Upon such core values, we form the attitudes and actions that are the hallmark of safe, healthy and informed communities that serve as the foundation of our society." At Applegarth, it is important to take into consideration various aspects when it comes to education. Meeting the needs of all stakeholders in our school community is important in providing the best education for our students.
What is F.I.S.H?
F.I.S.H. is an acronym that stands for Applegarth's core values. These core values are friendly, inclusive, supportive, and honest. Our Character Education Committee defined each one of these core values as actionable expectations that we were able to share with our school community. To be friendly means to be kind, compassionate, show you care, express gratitude, forgive others, help people in need, and show empathy. Applegarth community members are inclusive when we treat others with respect; are tolerant of differences, use good manners, reach out to others to join in, and never leave students out. To be supportive means to give time and help to those who need it in and outside of school, look for opportunities to encourage others, and listen to others. Applegarth school is honest by being reliable, doing the right thing, being loyal, and building a good reputation.
State School of Character
Applegarth Elementary School became a State School of Character in 2023, by Character.org. Schools go through a rigorous application process before being awarded State Status. Schools must adhere to 11 Principles in an effective way:
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Core values are defined, implemented, and embedded into school culture.
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The school defines “character” comprehensively to include thinking, feeling and doing.
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The school uses a comprehensive, intention and proactive approach to develop character
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The school creates a caring community
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The school provides students with opportunities for moral action
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The school offers a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners, develops their character and helps them succeed.
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The school fosters student’ self-motivation
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All staff share the responsibility for developing, implementing and modeling ethical character.
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The school’s character initiative has shared leadership and long-range support for continuous improvement
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The school engages families and community as partners in the character initiative
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The school assesses its implementation of character education, its culture and climate, and the character growth of students on a regular basis.
Explore how Applegarth shows F.I.S.H
Community Service
Community Service is fulfilling your role as a citizen within your community and society through active participation in civic life. It is also defined as unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation.
Some of our Community Service at Applegarth Includes:
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Cards for Troops - An initiative sponsored by the Department of Veteran Affairs in which students learned about the needs of troops and wrote cards in support of their defense of our country
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Sewa Diwali Food Drive - Various items were donated by students district wide to food pantries in Monroe Township
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Trick-Or-Treat Bags - One fourth grade class learned about nursing homes and created cards and goodie bags to send to Hamilton Grove
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Thanksgiving Food Drive - Students learned about food banks and non-perishable food items were collected and donated to the Monroe Township Food bank
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Holiday Gift Drive - Hundreds of gifts were collected for local families and staff members took time during the school day to wrap them before the holidays
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FEEDing Frenz- Classes create centerpieces for an organization run by a former staff member which gives out hot community meals to residents living in Asbury Park, NJ. These meals take place during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
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Ronald McDonald Pop Tab Program - In honor of a former teacher who passed away from cancer, this district-wide program aims to collect tabs from soda cans and use the proceeds to give families with children battling cancer and affordable place to stay
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Pennies for Patients - A competition was held in which pennies were collected by each grade level to benefit cancer patients for the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society; the winning grade won a prize which helped to promote good sportsmanship
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Replenish Spring Food Drive - Students donate canned goods to join a team in the tournament, these cans are donated to
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Jump Rope for Heart - Students fundraise money for the American Heart Association
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Make A Wish - Students fundraise money for children battling with cancer
Service Learning
Service learning is a process in which students participate in meaningful community work that reinforces concepts within the curriculum There are 5 Elements associated with Service Learning. They are to be meaningful, have academic integrity, provide student ownership, have adequate supervision, and be developmentally appropriate. Every year at Applegarth, students and staff have had numerous opportunities to fundraise and give back to various organizations. In an effort to improve our civic duty and moral action, students and staff at Applegarth have voted to pursue a year-long service learning project with the help of seniors in our community. Almost 40% of residents who live in Monroe Township are 65 and over. They play a vital role in the community and we believe that it is important not only to foster a strong relationship with seniors, but also keep their stories alive. Our goal is to have students at Applegarth interview and write biographies about various members in our community. After compiling a vibrant collection of anecdotes, we will be creating a book to sell and display throughout Monroe Township. All of the proceeds that are collected will be donated to the Monroe Township Senior Center. As our school mission statement says, “We work to empower students to think critically, innovate, collaborate, inspire, and challenge themselves and one another…All of this will take place within a culture of empathy and inclusiveness…as well as by modeling friendliness, inclusiveness, supportiveness, and honesty at all times.”
F.I.S.H. Tank
The F.I.S.H. Tank Competition is a "Shark Tank" style competition that requires students at Applegarth to create an original, innovative business idea, product, or service that will assist in ending climate change. Student entrepreneurs will use their scientific understanding and persuasive techniques in order to develop and prepare a pitch to present to the F.I.S.H. panel that will judge and review the businesses. The F.I.S.H. panel will "invest" in the top three businesses with two businesses serving as the runner ups. Students must choose an idea that revolves around helping out planet to reduce the spread of climate change. We encourage students to be creative, innovative, and think outside of the box.
Star-F.I.S.H. of Character Award
For students at Applegarth to showcase they are a Star-F.I.S.H. of character, they have the opportunity to demonstrate that they practice each of our core values in their daily lives. They have the option to
display/present each core value (Friendly, Inclusive, Supportive, Honest) in a digital portfolio by following a specific rubric. This is a great way for students to highlight how they are integrating F.I.S.H. into all aspects of their lives.
F.I.S.H. Tickets
F.I.S.H. tickets are handed out based on Applegarth's core values (Friendly, Inclusiveness, Supportive, and Honesty. Throughout the school day, staff and students can give anyone a ticket at any time, including students to staff, if they are demonstrating one or all of our core values. Once we reach our goal amount of tickets for the marking period, we earn a school-wide reward that students vote on. Tickets are kept in the classroom in a fishbowl. Each marking period, the color of the ticket's changes.
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