by Maura Kay
Teenagers often develop consistent morning rituals that they practice daily in preparation for school. Vice Principal Jonathan Peebles and the staff have added the idea of building character to Baldwin High School’s morning routine through the installment of Project Wisdom.
Project Wisdom is an online resource recently purchased by the district for the betterment of student morals and personality traits. The program uses many different forms of media to spread its messages: Mr. Peebles reads inspirational quotes each morning over the announcements, while students reflect on the monthly themes, such as respect and responsibility, through journal responses.
“Project Wisdom is a spearhead of the character education program” says Peebles.
To bring Project Wisdom to the individual classroom level, a professional learning committee was formed, which consists of 21 volunteer teachers with the goal of promoting more of a presence of character education in their classrooms. The social studies department, in particular, has already added activities to its curriculum designed to build skills emphasized as Project Wisdom’s main beliefs.
One such teacher involved is Christopher Reilsono, who describes the process of writing the Project Wisdom journals as, “Turning thoughts to expressions through paper.”
Along with the guidance in good decision making that Project Wisdom aims to instill its in participants, the administration has also positioned eight 8 X 12 foot banners in the atriums to publicly display the school’s pillars of honor, such as character, respect, family, diversity, courage, integrity, honesty, and community.
The focus and expansion of these programs allows students to gain knowledge of life skills that can be applied both in and outside the classroom, Peebles said. He describes that Project Wisdom started as a vision, remains an important mission, and will eventually be an achieved goal.
Through its promotion of good morals and personality traits, Project Wisdom has the potential to completely change the dynamic of culture at Baldwin High School, Peebles said.
