Know Your WHY
Many of you have heard of Simon Sinek, or the term, Know Your Why? I refer to it as my passion, my Ph.d. if you will, my Passion, my Heart and my Determination I always say. I’m a high school graduate, raised three adult children, still happily married for 44 years and still dedicating my life to the organizaiton I created, Characters of Character. When I was a teaching assistant I had the opportunity to pilot the characters which earned a National Promising Practice Award which led to me to where we are today. This morning however, I came across a folder filled with comments and testimonials from the years gone by and they refreshed my memory as to why I kept going, eighteen years later at that! Keep in mind that as a small nonprofit, I am not paid staff, I am not knowledgeable on many things, I am however very passionate to make a difference in the life of a child. That is WHY I do what I do, and I wanted to share some of our comments and testimonials with you. It’s like going back and reading your Year Book, or looking through old pictures, they bring back memories, the old you and help you realize what you have accomplished and WHY you do what you do, WHY you feel the way you do, WHY you have grown and continue to blossom.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the wonderful work Mrs. Joni Downey does with children. Parents want their children to be of strong character, and good character does not just happen. It is an outcome of the efforts of parents who lay a strong foundation of good character. In our society it must go to the next step with early care and education programs participating in this process as well.
The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership celebrates building a brighter future for children by educating leaders one at a time on the importance of high quality care for children. The components of high-quality care and education include well educated teachers, caring and compassionate staff with a family focus stressing involvement both within and beyond the center, and a comprehensive curriculum geared to the developmental needs of young children. Mrs. Downey’s character curriculum goes a long way in reaching these goals and I would recommend her program to any early care and education program.
Debra Trude-Suter, Director of Training
As a colleague, I have known Joni for ten years. She shared her Characters of Character program with us, the staff and the students. It was so well received by the students that we had special programs which included the entire school through classroom and assembly participation.
Since then, she has branched out to other districts, libraries and book publishing’s. She did this by being a very influential, dynamic communicator through her artistry in drawings, illustrated book writing and character costumes life size creations.
Edna M. Smyth, Reading Specialist, former Principal, College instructor
Thank you for writing to the White House. Your letter was referred to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools for a reply.
We appreciate your taking the time to apprise and follow up with us on the work that is being carried out under the Characters of Character organization. We commend your efforts in volunteering not only your time, but materials and talents to teach our children the values that will help to create a better future and community. Thanks so much for sharing your program and message.
We encourage you to continue to share your program activities and products with school officials at the State and local levels that are charged with making decisions about school curriculum, instructional content, and program activities.
People like you who identify a need and develop programs like yours are vital resources to teachers, parents, students and the community at large.
Again, thank you for writing to apprise us of your success in promoting the importance of teaching civic virtue and positive character traits. We wish you continued success in all of your future endeavors.
Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary
It has been an honor and a privilege to work with you this past year on your Characters of Character program. It has made an incredible impact on our students and has really helped to improve the climate and culture of our school. The entire school embraced the characters and the citizenship traits they represented.
As the year went on I saw teachers and students talking about being a good friend, respecting each other, and being responsible. I am confident these conversations would not have occurred in such great numbers if it were for you and your wonderful characters. The characters made it simple to explain difficult concepts to even the youngest of students. Jen Glickley, Principal
I would like to positively comment on the work of Mrs. Joni Downey. Mrs. Downey is one of our reading assistants here at this School and does a tremendous job in her work with our kindergarten students. As you already know, Mrs. Downey has a wealth of talents and abilities in working with children. Mrs. Downey has created a program called Characters of Character stressing the ideas of good citizenship to all students. She has worked tirelessly to spread the word of this award winning program and we are honored to have her as a member of our staff. Mrs. Downey herself is of the highest character and I would highly recommend the opportunity for you to sit down and talk with her in more detail about her program and how it would benefit students. Jeff Knapp, Principal
I am writing to express my support for the character development program known as Characters of Character, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The purpose of the Characters of Character program is to promote and teach young students vital core community traits. The program helps to establish a foundation of good social and interpersonal skills to children at an early age, a time when the pupils begin to experience and embed such attributes to their behavior.
With the guidance of the program, children learn to follow the many character models provided to them. Thus they begin to understand manners, behavior, responsibility, friendship, and many other virtues in a positive sense. The development of these traits in students fosters a healthy relationship between each other, their elders, and facilitates their engagement in education and learning. By helping our children to build a strong moral background, we are helping them to understand the necessary skills needed in their everyday life as students and members of their community.
As a nation, the benefits and potential in teaching young children the proper interpersonal behavior is crucial. These abilities, which our young generation will acquire today, will make it possible for them to pursue unique and great endeavors in the future. Strengthening America by providing the means for our future leaders to grow is a meaningful and necessary task to accomplish.
I proudly and confidently support the Characters of Character program and the social skills that it teaches young children to adopt. Thank you for taking time to consider my thoughts on this important program.
Member of Congress, Melissa L. Bean,
This summer, I had the pleasure of working with Joni during our summer school resource program. The students I observed enjoyed Joni’s Characters of Character Program so much that they literally were asking for them when they came into the classroom every morning! Everyone seemed to have their favorite character. The students were receptive and eager to participate in class discussion about the characters as well as writing about how they related to the traits of the characters in their everyday lives. What I found to be truly amazing was the fact they couldn’t wait to write about the characters as writing is very difficult for many of these students. You would never have known that was the case. These students embraced the characters and the positive messages they convey. This program teaches children to make sound, positive decisions and would be beneficial to any school district.
Kathy Vernsten, Speech Language Pathologist
There is an entire binder full of wonderful remarks such as above for the past years. Characters of Character continues to grow as an organization as does Joni as a person. To find these this morning was a reminder that I am on the right path as I dedicate my time to create stories, videos, songs and music to teach our children and youth these vital core values. I hope you’ll visit us on social media, subscribe to our newsletter, YouTube Chanel and introduce your own children, grandchildren and students to the Characters of Character.
TELL me and I forget, TEACH me and I remember, INVOLVE me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin