Congrats To All The Grads!

Hard to believe that another year has gone by and our graduates now will reach for the sky! They’ve done their best and learned more about who they are and now they’re reaching for all the stars. They didn’t give up or didn’t give in, so on this graduation season, we call that a WIN!
Congrats to all of the graduates of 2023, We are very proud of you!

Asa young mom, when my children’s birthday came around it was always special, but, when they started that next school year in another grade is when I truly saw their growth. I cried until I dropped them off to Jr. High! I know, I know. Time just goes by so fast, so encourage your
children and enjoy watching them become who they are right before your very eyes, and don’t blink!

We’ve all been there, thinking the path is rather difficult and how easy it would be to just give up, call it a day and forget about it all together! But, like our character Do’er Duck says, “NEVER GIVE UP” and oh what a feeling it is when we have accomplished a goal, completed a task and moved one foot forward! One can really learn a lot about themselves when they keep on trying. It’s
been said that during the darkest of times you are being tested, and if you keep on going there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have found myself being challenged many times and have come to welcome new challenges as lessons to build myself up. Like our character Self-Esteem
Elephant who focuses on three words, “I Like ME” and when you embrace who you are, when you accept the challenges in life, when you come out looking back, you’ve done okay! You didn’t give up and you should feel good about that. But,how do we teach our children to persevere like Do’er Duck? Or, how do we teach our children to accept and like who they are like Self-Esteem
Elephant?

Here are some tips to try:

• Be a role model for your children, they are watching you and listening to you and learning from your own reactions and conversations and accomplishments. Be a role model!
• Be encouraging! Yep, sometimes life can be difficult, but instead of giving up or giving in encourage your children to find a new way to accomplish what they set out to do. Mountains have hills and valleys, the path isn’t always straight, if ever, so we must continue on finding a way. Through narrow roads, up bumpy hills and forks in the road. Take the long way if you must, just keep on going.
• Talk with your children often and have discussions, ask questions and let them ask you! For example: “What do you like about who you are?” or “What would you like to become better at?” “What is hard for you to do, can we practice it?” With encouragement and communicating your child will learn and grow, and so will you.
• Know your child, do they learn from hands on experiences? Do they learn from visual reminders? However they learn, grab the bull by the horns, do it their way so you engage them, capture their attention and fill their mind with the good stuff!

When I teach confidence and Self-Esteem to children with our character Self-Esteem Elephant, it’s fun to watch them open up and add to the conversation. At first when I ask students and children, “what do you like about who you are?’ they look at me like I’m crazy and are hesitant. Then, I begin to point out obvious attributes about a child or if I know something more about them I point that out. Simple. For example, “YOU have the most beautiful smile I have ever seen!” Or, “I’ve heard you sing, what a beautiful voice you have!” Be prepared as you have now opened up the can of worms and children do like to talk about what they can do, what they’re good at and who they are. Their peers or classmates like listening and learning about one another, too! I’ve
witnessed it a number of times myself. Their initial reaction is always a surprise because while we’re in school so many times we focus on the academics, when there is so much more to a person. Should you yourself hold a title, then you know that there is so much more to who you are. Should you have a trophy on your shelf, you also know that there is so much more to how you earned it. Building good character is a lifelong journey. Building good character is a daily adventure. Building good character will build your reputation. Let’s be a positive role model and influence in the life of a child. It’s what we do here at Characters of Character, make a difference in the life of a child and you are, too.

As you may already be aware, Characters of Character is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a firm foundation for children to establish strong civic values. We work tirelessly getting these important messages out there to our children, youth, families and communities. And, we're here to share that we need your support! NASCAR has a 75 hour Marathon for nonprofits and we are part of this, so the race is on! It ends tomorrow at 5:00 and we appreciate the support you are able to give to this as we continue making a difference in the life of a child.

Hope you’ll join us in the race! NASCAR 75 hour Marathon ends tomorrow so your support means a lot today! You can learn more about this event here.