On the Record with Joni Downey
Printed 8/16/2010 in the Northwest Herald
 Joni Downey of Johnsburg is the creator and founder of Characters of Character, a program that teaches children character traits with messages such as Do’er Duck’s “Never Give Up.” | While she was a teaching assistant, Joni Downey noticed that young children sometimes struggled to
understand how they could put into practice the character traits that were promoted in school. So the Johnsburg resident, now 52, created a line of characters who were friendly, warm-hearted and respectful, dubbed Characters of Character. Enter Behavior Bear, Respectful Rabbit and a lineup of seven other animals who are totally cool (as denoted by their sunglasses) with being perseverant, healthy and well-mannered. The idea for these characters was born 11 years ago with drawings on pieces of construction paper. Over time, Downey painted the characters onto wood panels. This year, a generous donation paid for Downey to buy full-body costumes of the characters – which are worn at public appearances by her, her husband, her grown children and other volunteers. These characters have traveled across the country to workshops, expos and classrooms to provide a personable way for children to relate to the characteristically savvy bunch. Downey also has written extensive curriculum and programming guides based on the characters, which teachers can employ in the classroom. Downey recently sat down with reporter Diana Sroka to talk about what inspired her to launch Characters of Character and what’s special about them. |
Sroka: Tell me about the Characters of Character.
Downey: There are nine animal characters: Behavior Bear, Do’er Duck, Friendship Frog, Healthy Hippo,
Manners Monkey, Respectful Rabbit, Responsible Rabbit, Self-Esteem Elephant and
Warm-Hearted Walrus.
Sroka: Can you give some examples of what the characters do?
Downey: Manners Monkey uses polite words – please, thank you, excuse me. Raises his hand in school,
stands [calmly] in line. Do’er Duck is perseverant.
Sroka: When did you start Characters of Character?
Downey: We started in 1999. I was kind of just putzing with the thought of characters of character.
Sroka: How did you get the idea for these characters?
Downey: When it started out as an art project, there wasn’t a lot of materials to create things, so
basically I started with white construction paper.
Sroka: Did you draw all these characters?
Downey: I did. It’s really fun to do.
Sroka: So when did the costumes come into play?
Downey: We actually just got the costumes in late January, and debuted them at the Chicagoland
Kids Expo in February.
Sroka: Do you dress up as well? Is there a particular costume you always wear?
Downey: I have, and it depends a lot on the event on who we bring.
Sroka: How do you reach the children?
Downey: We have done expos and school visits for two years. We’re self-publishing a book, and we do
author visits. We did the Chicagoland Kids Expo. Any chance we get, we’re in costume.
Sroka: What is different about Characters of Character from other character programs?
Downey: I would say the character costumes and the crafting of the program. One teacher in New
Jersey said she had the Warm-Hearted Walrus in the classroom, and the whole environment just
warmed up. I had a mom who said that her son, every night says a prayer for the characters. These
characters are just a great foundation to build on.
Downey: There are nine animal characters: Behavior Bear, Do’er Duck, Friendship Frog, Healthy Hippo,
Manners Monkey, Respectful Rabbit, Responsible Rabbit, Self-Esteem Elephant and
Warm-Hearted Walrus.
Sroka: Can you give some examples of what the characters do?
Downey: Manners Monkey uses polite words – please, thank you, excuse me. Raises his hand in school,
stands [calmly] in line. Do’er Duck is perseverant.
Sroka: When did you start Characters of Character?
Downey: We started in 1999. I was kind of just putzing with the thought of characters of character.
Sroka: How did you get the idea for these characters?
Downey: When it started out as an art project, there wasn’t a lot of materials to create things, so
basically I started with white construction paper.
Sroka: Did you draw all these characters?
Downey: I did. It’s really fun to do.
Sroka: So when did the costumes come into play?
Downey: We actually just got the costumes in late January, and debuted them at the Chicagoland
Kids Expo in February.
Sroka: Do you dress up as well? Is there a particular costume you always wear?
Downey: I have, and it depends a lot on the event on who we bring.
Sroka: How do you reach the children?
Downey: We have done expos and school visits for two years. We’re self-publishing a book, and we do
author visits. We did the Chicagoland Kids Expo. Any chance we get, we’re in costume.
Sroka: What is different about Characters of Character from other character programs?
Downey: I would say the character costumes and the crafting of the program. One teacher in New
Jersey said she had the Warm-Hearted Walrus in the classroom, and the whole environment just
warmed up. I had a mom who said that her son, every night says a prayer for the characters. These
characters are just a great foundation to build on.
