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Pictured above:  Mary Claire Shaw and Endya Worship color their “Joyful Joe” puppets during an Integrity Time lesson in Mrs. Becky Farned’s classroom.

The staff at New Albany Elementary School works very hard to ensure success for all of their students.  That includes School Counselor Julie Newton.  Newton has been instrumental in selecting and helping to implement a new character education program at the school.

“One area that we feel is vital to all students’ success is teaching and developing good character traits,” Newton said.  “This is an area that we knew we wanted to expand to its fullest potential.”

“Our school counselor is an important member of our staff and helps our students think smart, be healthy, and show good citizenship,” says NAES Principal Lance Evans. 
“We continue to focus our counseling efforts on character education,” Evans said.  “We know from experience and using school-wide assessments, such as the School Health Index, that this issue is critically important to how well our students perform in the classroom.”

“Integrity Time” is the new character education program that is being used at NAES. 
Each week there is a lesson that contains a character word for each letter of the alphabet such as “A is for Attitude” and “B is for Behavior”.  Teachers present the lesson at the beginning of the week and students build knowledge of the character word throughout the week by participating in activities and working in their student booklets. 

The program which is student, parent, and teacher friendly is currently being used with kindergarten and first grade students.  Plans are being made to use the program in other grades as well.

“Each week we learn about a character trait and the lesson is also reinforced by a jingle and puppets,” explained first grade teacher Becky Farned.  “At the end of each lesson the children journal and draw pictures about what they have learned.” 

“The children have enjoyed Integrity Time and I believe it is a positive program from which children can learn the benefits of developing good character,” Farned added.

“Integrity Time is a great program and gives the children a great opportunity to learn important lessons and values they need in life,” said first grade teacher Angela Spencer. 
“It has cute songs that the children love.”