character

“It’s Nice” Word Art Freebie

April 19, 2013 By Deb Chitwood Leave a Comment

I LOVE this quote, which is most often attributed to motivational speaker John Cassis: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

I first heard the quote as the motto for Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes, who learned it from her mother. It’s a concept that was important in my kids’ figure skating careers – and lives – as well. I always thought it was much more important that my kids grew up to be nice people than that they grew up to be “important” people. I feel very fortunate that many people have told me how nice my kids are. I truly believe that our kids will pick up what’s most important to us as parents.

Here are two different versions of word art using the quote:

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Background image by Marina Sozonova.

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Background image by Sónia Gonçalves.

Note: I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Filed Under: Freebies, Parents' Role, Word-Art Quotation Freebies Tagged With: character, digital scrapbooking freebie, It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice, John Cassis Quote, parenting, word art, word-art freebie

Why Your Kids Should Know about Lance Armstrong

January 30, 2013 By Deb Chitwood 10 Comments

My family found that one of the most important benefits (maybe THE most important benefit) of sports for kids is the development of positive character traits. See “Raising an Elite Athlete” for more about encouraging those traits. See “What about Your Kids’ Character?” for resources, including sports resources, on kids’ character development.

So, why should your kids know about Lance Armstrong, who has been given the infamous label by many of “most disgraced athlete” for his role in maybe the biggest performance-enhancing-drug scandal in sports history?

1. The Lance Armstrong story is the perfect cautionary tale.

Lance Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour de France titles and his 2000 Olympic medal, lost over $75 million in endorsements, faces multiple lawsuits, and is now a figure despised rather than loved by many. “Lance Armstrong May Have Lied to Winfrey: Investigators” from ABC News shares videos from Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in which he admits to lying repeatedly throughout his career and bullying anyone who accused him of lying. And many say he’s still lying about certain issues to protect himself from criminal prosecution.

2. If you want your kids to view sports as about much more than winning, it’s important to discuss issues like Lance Armstrong’s unethical behavior with your kids.

Although coaches and peers can play a huge part in your kids’ views of sports and life in general, you as a parent are still the most important role model for your child. While I don’t recommend talking about Lance Armstrong’s behavior with your kids until they’re elementary age (unless they hear about it and ask for more information), you can help by letting your kids know that hard work and good sportsmanship are more important to you than winning.

3. Kids need to know that “sports heroes” aren’t heroes unless they’re high-quality people.

My kids were lucky as figure skaters to train much of their competitive career at an international training center (the World Arena in Colorado Springs) where they often saw top international skaters when they were young.

I think Will’s and Christina’s experiences training on the same sessions as skaters competing in major events like the Skate America Grand Prix event three years in a row helped them see that not all “sports heroes” are worthy of the label. My husband and I didn’t encourage Will and Christina to place undue emphasis on the top athletes’ titles or to ask athletes for their autographs. Even Christina at age 8 became very aware of which athletes were kind, hard-working people and which were rude people who were much more concerned about what they got than what they could give.

I’m sad for Lance Armstrong’s family and all those who were hurt by his behavior. While I’m glad he helped many cancer patients through the Livestrong Foundation, his sports behavior is simply unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if “everyone else” was doping in cycling.

Figure skating is known for politics and subjective judging, but that doesn’t mean skating parents should encourage their kids to use unfair methods to affect skating judging. I’m proud that my kids learned to work hard, compete fairly, and treat their competitors and others in the sport with kindness.

Will and Christina can treasure every experience and every medal, knowing it was earned. And if they didn’t get as far as they could have by cheating, they know that their parents are more proud of them this way. They know they are loved for who they are rather than how they placed in any event. And they know they can be proud of doing the right thing.

Please give your kids the message that there are much more important things in sports (and life) than winning. It’s one of the best gifts you can give them.

Note: I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Linked with The Sunday Parenting Party.

Filed Under: Character, Parents' Role Tagged With: character, cheating, Lance Armstrong, parents' role, performance-enhancing drugs

How to Help Your Kids Develop Character at Christmastime

December 13, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 8 Comments

Christmastime sometimes inspires images of greedy kids begging for toys that will be quickly discarded. It doesn’t need to be that way. The Christmas season can be a time to help your kids develop character. Here are some ways you can help:

Make the Christmas Season about Giving Rather than Getting

A Holy Experience shares a beautiful, yet radical, way to remember what Christmas is truly about. In “The Grateful Christmas Project: 7 Ways to have more Grateful Kids this Christmas,” Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, tells what her family does for Christmas, giving their gifts to the Christ Child through charity gifts from Compassion Catalog, Samaritan’s Purse Catalog, Partner’s International Catalog, World Vision Catalog, Gospel for Asia Catalog, and Mennonite Central Committee Catalog.

As beautiful as giving all gifts to the Christ Child is, I think a family has to feel called to do this. Many families are called to do a modified version. Ann also shares ideas that aren’t as radical for Christian families at the end of her post. I love this sentence that any family could use as a focus: “Let’s focus on our Giving Lists — and not so much on any getting lists.”

1+1+1=1 shares similar concepts that Christian families can use along with a more traditional Christian Christmas in her “Christmas Gifts for Jesus.” My family enjoyed focusing on food drives as well as helping the girls we sponsored through Compassion International feel extra special at Christmastime. This year, 1+1+1=1 shared a new idea in her latest “Christmas Gifts for Jesus” using The Sparkle Box book and gift box. That’s something I would have especially enjoyed doing with my kids if it would have been available when they were growing up. Note: I like the way this post from 1+1+1=1 shows the growth in character children can go through with these sorts of activities: “But I Want Toys!”

Here’s a video of Jill Hardie, the author of The Sparkle Box, telling about the book and tradition behind the book.

How to Help Your Kids Develop Compassion through Service Projects

I have a post at Living Montessori Now with links to lots of resources: “How to Help Your Kids Develop Compassion Through Service Projects.”

Kids Stuff World has a “A Season of Giving: 31 Days of Service” with links to family-friendly service projects by many bloggers.

Coffee Cups and Crayons has a lovely idea of counting down to Christmas with “24 Days of Random Acts of Kindness.” Although it’s past December 1, it isn’t too late to start showing random acts of kindness from now through Christmas and beyond.

Raising Lifelong Learners had a post this Christmas season with “The Ultimate Guide to Random Acts of Kindness.”

The Iowa Farmer’s Wife gave ideas for “12 Days of Christmas Kindness.”

The Good Long Road shared examples of families’ Random Acts of Kindness at today’s Weekly Kid’s Co-op.

Here are some more ideas for random acts of kindness at any time from a post of mine last year: “Try a Little Kindness.”

Help Your Child Accept Gifts Courteously and with Gratitude

Montessori education has techniques to help children learn to graciously accept gifts and become comfortable with thanking someone for a gift. Here’s my post at Living Montessori Now on “Holiday Manners.”

Focus on the Nativity

How to Use Godly Play at Home during Advent

We’ve heard the slogans “Don’t take Christ out of Christmas” and “Jesus is the reason for the season.” And they’re good reminders. It’s helpful for our kids to focus on what Christmas is all about. I co-hosted a Focus on the Nativity Blog Hop at Living Montessori Now. You’ll find lots of wonderful ideas for helping children remember what Christmas is about.

I especially love the sense of wonder that Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, two Montessori-based religious education programs can inspire in children. Here’s a post with ideas for helping children truly experience the Mystery of Christmas: “How to Use Godly Play at Home during Advent.”

Be an Example of Good Character at Christmas

It’s easy to get caught up in all the things that need to be done at Christmastime. But the best way we can help our children is to be truly present at Christmas and to be models of what Christmas is really about. Take time to slow down and enjoy any service projects you might be doing … sincerely enjoy the act of giving. I always found it important to simplify the other parts of Christmas to keep myself balanced during the Christmas season. Here’s a post with ideas to help: “10 Tips for Avoiding Holiday Burnout.”

The Spirit of Christmas Word Art Freebies

Here are a couple of word-art freebies about keeping the true spirit of Christmas:

“The Basic Ingredients of a Truly Merry Christmas” Word Art Freebie (without watermark)

“I Will Honour Christmas Word-Art Freebie

I hope you and your family are having a truly blessed Christmas season!

Note: I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Stock photo at top of post by Tera Christianson.

Linked to Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co. , Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Living Life Intentionally Linky Party, Sharing Saturday, Saturday Show & Tell, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, Afterschool Express, December Holiday Blog Hop at PreK + K Sharing, and The Sunday Parenting Party.

Filed Under: Character, Parents' Role Tagged With: character, Christmas, giving rather than getting, how to help your kids develop character at Christmastime

Free Worldwide Character Counts! Week Resources

October 19, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 4 Comments

Get ready for Worldwide Character Counts! Week October 21-27!

Free Worldwide Character Counts! Week Resources

Be sure to Register for Character Counts! Week through the Josephson Institute to receive free character-based lesson plans and activities for celebrating Character Counts! Week. There are also Red Ribbon Week tie-in activities. The resources are wonderful for both schools and individuals. Homeschoolers will find lots of helpful resources.

If you’re registered for Character Counts! Week, you can sign up to receive free video streaming from Film Clips for Character Education for 2 weeks! That’s probably my favorite freebie of Character Counts! Week. My family loves movies, and we definitely would have enjoyed using clips from blockbuster movies such as Liar Liar, Pay It Forward, and A Fellowship of the Ring with discussion guides. Another huge freebie is 2 weeks of online lessons from Practi-Quest on bullying prevention. (Note: You’ll find more anti-bullying resources in my posts Do You Follow the Thumper Theory? and The Golden Rule for Back to School)

Be sure to check out my previous Character Counts! Week posts, too! The links still work, and you’ll find many ideas for activities and lesson plans to use next week and throughout the year. There are even links to some character-based Halloween activities, including a character-based idea for giving away extra Halloween candy.

Character-Based Word Art Freebies

I like to use character-based quotations to inspire positive character traits. I have two versions of word art freebies based on a Montessori respect quote:

“If We Could Say” – Montessori Word Art Freebies

Check out my word art freebies category for many more character-based freebies. You’ll also lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest! And much of it is character-based as well.

Linked with TGIF Linky Party, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express.

Filed Under: Character, Parents' Role Tagged With: bullying prevention, character, Character Counts, Character Counts! Week, free Charcter Counts! Week Resources

Top 5 Tips for Raising Kids with Good Self-Esteem

August 17, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 9 Comments

It’s the start of a new school year, and your child’s self-esteem will make a big difference in how your child views life both in and out of school. I’m not talking about praising everything your child does and creating a “praise junkie.” You can do a lot toward helping your child truly develop high self-esteem. Here are my top 5 tips for raising kids with good self-esteem.

1. Give your child positive attention. Spend time with your child and help your child feel he or she belongs and is significant.

2. Use positive discipline methods, focusing on communication and logical consequences. I have a series of discipline articles at Living Montessori Now that focus on discipline methods that are effective and help your child feel respected and valued as a person.

3. Encourage your child, but don’t give excessive praise or emphasize the outcome. Especially encourage your child’s effort and persistence in a task. It’s important that your child feels encouraged to work hard on a task, gaining internal satisfaction (and positive character traits).

By giving excessive praise or emphasizing the product, your child is at risk of becoming a praise junkie who’s afraid to try something new. It really is all about the journey, not the outcome. Here are a few posts I’ve written that focus on developing self-esteem and positive character traits rather than focusing on the outcome:

A Montessori Approach to Praise

You Can Do It!

Is Your Life Process Driven?

What about Your Kids’ Character?

4. Be sure your child knows that your love isn’t dependent upon your child’s physical attractiveness. Girls especially need to know that they’re competent and special for who they are, not how they look. Healthy bodies can still be encouraged through an emphasis on healthy eating and a lifestyle that includes ways to be physically fit. You’ll find more about the importance of a healthy body image (and a petition you can sign to make a difference) here: Help Our Daughters Have Healthy Body Images.

5. Follow your child’s interests. This is an essential Montessori principle, and it’s one that works for children at any age. Following your child’s interests ensures that your child will feel respected and provides your child the greatest chance of self-motivation and success. If you have a young child, here’s a post with 10 Montessori principles that can give your child a great start toward competence and good self-esteem: Top 10 Montessori Principles for Natural Learning.

“We Are Each Gifted” Word Art Freebie (without watermark)

I’d love to hear what you find most effective in encouraging your child’s self-esteem.

Filed Under: Character, Parents' Role, self-esteem Tagged With: body image, character, good self-esteem, healthy body image, high self-esteem, positive discipline, praise junkie, self-esteem

Inspiration from Friday Night Lights

February 17, 2012 By Deb Chitwood Leave a Comment

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Word-Art Freebie

If you’re suffering from football withdrawal now that the Super Bowl is over, the Friday Night Lights series on DVD might be just what you need! Of course, maybe you’ve already seen the whole series. My husband and I just finished it … we’re suffering from Friday Night Lights withdrawal at the moment.

My family actually didn’t watch network television except for figure-skating competitions and the Super Bowl. Instead, we watched movies on DVD (video when our kids were little). Now that we’re empty nesters, my husband and I love to order critically-acclaimed series through Netflix.

Friday Night Lights TV Series

The Friday Night Lights TV series is based on a bestselling book and movie of the same name. Set in the fictional town of Dillon in West Texas, the show has a lot to say both about the importance of family and about the sacrifices and responsibility required to follow your dreams.

If you love American football or just enjoy sports movies in general, you’ll probably love Friday Night Lights. For teenagers and older, there are lots of great character lessons and heart-warming family situations to be found in the 5-season series – a series that even has a satisfying ending.

For teenagers, I recommend using the series as a basis for the discussions that are important for parents to have with teenagers. There are a lot of actions going on in the series that I wouldn’t have wanted my own children to participate in, but I think those actions need to be discussed openly during the teenage years.

Here are a few examples of inspiration and character education from Friday Night Lights:

Quotes from Coach Eric Taylor:

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Team Motto

“Life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable. And we will all at some point in our lives fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts. That what we have is special.”

“Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over.”

“You can’t beat yourself up because you’re taking chances on things.”

“He joins my team, he’s on my field, he’s got a family.”

“…what football celebrates is teamwork and character if executed properly, that’s what it celebrates.”

“A few will never give up on you. When you go back out on the field, those are the people I want in your minds. Those are the people I want in your hearts.”

“…there’s a joy to this game, is there not? There’s a passion, there’s a reason why we’re all out here. Other than the fact the pride that it gives us and the respect that it demands we love to play the game so let’s go out there and have fun tonight.”

“There are more important things than football.”

It was recently announced that a movie script based on the Friday Night Lights TV series is almost finished. Yay!

Are you a Friday Night Lights fan?

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

Filed Under: Character, Inspiration Tagged With: character, Coach Eric Taylor, Coach Eric Taylor quotes, Friday Night LIghts, Friday Night Lights fan, Friday Night Lights TV series, Inspiration

Courage in Sports and in Life

January 20, 2012 By Deb Chitwood Leave a Comment

A truly amazing character trait sports can help develop is courage. The most inspiring sports stories involve courage, and I’m sure that’s the case with the most inspiring life stories as well.

Tebowing Courage

Even though the Denver Broncos’ football season is over now, courage has been in the sports news a lot this year, thanks to the Tim Tebow phenomenon. I’m one of those who loved watching Tebow show the courage to express his faith so publicly.

Of course, some may ridicule the concept of “Tebowing.” (“Tebowing: (vb)- to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone around you is doing something comepletely different.” [Tebowing.com]) But in a Fox Sports article, Tim Tebow tells one of the best things about people Tebowing. He says:

“It’s not my job to see people’s reasons behind it, but I know [of a kid] with cancer that tweeted me, ‘Tebowing while I’m chemoing’ — how cool is that?” Tebow said. “That’s worth it right now. If that gives him any encouragement or puts a smile on his face, or gives him encouragement to pray, that’s completely awesome.”

Courage in Facing Fear

And I loved hearing about the courageous last-minute game moves Tim Tebow has become known for.

An article from Yahoo! Sports has an interesting take on Tebow’s many late-game comebacks. It says:

What Tebow does, better than just about any other quarterback, is approach danger. Embrace danger.

I’ve seen that many times in figure skating as well. The skaters who show fear in events where fear is completely understandable have the worst performances. The skaters who aggressively and seemingly fearlessly attack their programs have the skate of their lives at the biggest and most difficult competitions.

I’d like to have more of that type of courage myself. How about you?
“Saddling up Anyway” Word-Art Freebie

Inspiration from Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton (and word-art freebie)

Photo at top of post by Magic Mermaid at Flickr Creative Commons.

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

Filed Under: Character, Faith and Sports, Inspiration Tagged With: Bethany Hamilton, character, courage, Soul Surfer, Tebowing, Tim Tebow

Do You Follow the Thumper Theory?

October 28, 2011 By Deb Chitwood 15 Comments

I’m a real believer in the Thumper Theory.

“If you can’t say something nice . . . don’t say nothing at all.”

- Thumper from the movie Bambi

I first heard of the Thumper Theory from Allison Scott, mother of Jeremy Abbot, who is a 2-time U.S. men’s figure skating champion. Allison and I live in the same city, and our kids trained at the same rink for a number of years.

In sports where there are too many online rants and criticisms of athletes, I find the Thumper Theory to be a breath of fresh air. But it doesn’t apply just to sports. Many people are calling for more online civility in general – along with more civility in real life.

One year ago today, this was posted at the Reveal Your Character site:

Worldwide, per second, there are approximately 28 million text messages, 700 status updates to Facebook, 600 tweets on Twitter; 1 million videos watched onto YouTube and 285 million emails. We have the wonderful, yet dangerous ability to spread ideas and information around the world quickly.

Somewhere along the line, we’ve started using those new tools as another way to be disrespectful and uncivil. And not only does it hurt people, it can ruin lives (as evident by the suicides of Phoebe Prince and Tyler Clementi).

Those numbers are much greater today. And that makes it all the more important that we take responsibility to be civil online as well as in person.

Resources to Help Kids:

Online Civility for Kids from Reveal Your Character

Stop Cyberbullying

Be a Bulldog! Not a Bully! August 23, 2011 post from According to Sherman

It’s a Great Day to Focus on Character

What About Your Kids’ Character?

UPDATE: Bullying Then and Now by Sandra McLeod Humphrey at Blogging Authors

Team Bully Response Squad Facebook page

Keeping Kids Safe: Children, Mobiles and The Internet from O2.

“Say Something Nice” Inspiration

My wish is that adults and kids alike can follow the Thumper Theory both online and in real life.

Here’s a sweet example of the Thumper Theory at work in real life:

“Say Something Nice”

Here’s a post with more information about the “Say Something Nice” mission from Improv Everywhere.

“Say Something Nice” Word-Art Freebie

So, let’s all say something nice!

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

Filed Under: Character, Making a Difference, Parents' Role Tagged With: Bambi, bullying prevention, character, civility, Improv Everywhere, online civility, say something nice, Thumper, Thumper Theory

It’s a Great Day to Focus on Character!

October 21, 2011 By Deb Chitwood 8 Comments

Today’s part of Worldwide Character Counts! Week, which makes it a great day to focus on character. But, actually, every day is a great day to focus on character.

If you’d like to know what you can do right away in your family, here are some suggestions:

Register for Character Counts! Week and check out some of the resources.

The Film Clips for Character Education are only available for free through tomorrow. If you don’t see this until after October 22, you can still study film clips (maybe on YouTube) or watch a movie like Babe and ask the following questions on the theme of respect from Film Clips for Character Education: The Six Pillars of Character Part 1 Study Guide:

What kind of leadership did Babe show when he tried to be like a sheepdog?

Was it Babe’s fault when he tried to be mean and aggressive like a sheepdog?

What attitude and behavior were successful in getting the sheep to do what Babe wanted?

Is it better to force someone to do something or to persuade them to do it? Why?

Or watch a movie like Cool Runnings and ask questions on the theme of trustworthiness:

Why did the coach think it was necessary to cheat?

Why did he decide to tell the truth about his past cheating?

Are successful people you know truthful people? Do they keep their promises?

Can you ever redeem trust? If so, how?

Start reading a book of your own or with your family that emphasizes positive values.

When my kids were growing up, we especially loved to read biographies and autobiographies of inspirational individuals, The Book of Virtues, and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series.

Here’s a video based on another book that’s great for helping kids develop positive character traits:

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Bucket Fillers website

Use comic strips to discuss character.

If you have teenagers, you could use the Doonesbury Discusses CHARACTER COUNTS! Week series and lesson plans as a starting point. For younger kids, pick an age-appropriate comic that has a good example for a character discussion.

Plan to do something to make a difference. It can even be a family project.

Here’s today’s Character Counts! Week Daily Character Idea for Kids:

Find Out Friday

Is there a pressing issue in your community? Find out how you can get involved and help make things better for everyone. Research the issue and groups that are taking action on it to find out what you can do.

Along with making a difference in your community, there are many ways you can make a difference from home. I talked about a few in my Make a Difference from Home post last year. Since then, I’ve found more resources and added them to my Make a Difference page.

If you’d like more ideas, check out my post What about Your Kids’ Character? with links to lots of character-education resources.

I’d love to hear if you’re doing anything special this week or if you have a regular activity in your family that focuses on character.

Photo Credit: Photo by Ricardo Eliezer de Souza e Silva Maas at Flickr Creative Commons (License).

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

Filed Under: Character Tagged With: character, Character Counts, Character Counts! Week, character education

Be the Best You Can Be

September 23, 2011 By Deb Chitwood 16 Comments

I think we’re all called to be the best we can be – by developing both our talents and our character. This week I was inspired by two sports examples. Of course, it doesn’t matter whether you or your child(ren) choose to develop your talents and character through sports or through another avenue.

Skater Brandon Mroz Pushes the Limits

I first met Brandon Mroz in 2005 when he was competing at the Broadmoor Open skating competition in Colorado Springs. He was also a volunteer runner for the Broadmoor Open, and I was the chair of the runners. I remember Brandon as having lots of talent and confidence even then.

That same year, Brandon’s mother and brother were in a serious car accident. According to Brandon’s profile at icenetwork.com, that accident (which left his brother with a spinal-cord injury) taught Brandon “to be strong, trust God and stay focused.”

Brandon, 2009 U.S. men’s silver medalist, has become known for his quad jumps. This week, it seems that the biggest figure-skating news on Twitter has been Brandon’s landing of a quad lutz at the Colorado Springs Invitational last Friday, September 16. Even though the Colorado Springs Invitational isn’t an international competition, it’s possible Brandon’s quad lutz will be recognized as the first official quad lutz landed in competition: Top skating official says Mroz could jump into record books.

According to a tweet from @USFigureSkating, (image at top of post), the video of Brandon’s quad lutz had already become the second most popular video on the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube page two days ago.

In case you haven’t seen it, here’s Brandon’s quad lutz:

Amazing how easy he made that look!

About the quad lutz, Brandon said:

“I was at a point where my technique was well established. I just decided to try, and I guess I’ve been successful. I like jumping, I like pushing boundaries. Maybe by doing these quads I can push the sport a little.” (The Inside Edge: The new quad king)

“Expect Things of Yourself” Word-Art Freebie

Runner Josh Ripley Shows Character

Not to take away from Brandon’s or anyone else’s character, but an outstanding example of character showed up on my Yahoo news page yesterday morning. This story was also from a competition last Friday, September 16.

In the middle of a cross-country meet, Minnesota high school runner Josh Ripley stopped to carry an injured rival to help before returning to finish the race: Runner carries injured foe half mile to help in middle of race.

I love examples like Josh Ripley, examples of athletes showing great sportsmanship and kindness. Earlier in the year, I wrote about Sportsmanship in Sports and in Life with some other examples of great sportsmanship. For resources to help develop character, I have lots of links in my post What About Your Kids’ Character?