Citizenship (No. 7 of 7)

 Citizenship includes civic virtues and duties that prescribe how we ought to behave as part of a community.

To be a good citizen, you must:
• Do your share to make your school and community better.
• Cooperate.
• Get involved in community affairs.
• Stay informed - vote.
• Be a good neighbor.
• Obey laws and rules.
• Respect authority.
• Protect the environment.

Caring (No. 6 of 7)

 Caring is showing kindness and concern for others in distress by offering help whenever possible.
To be a caring person, you must:
• Be kind.
• Be compassionate and show you care.
• Express gratitude.
• Forgive others.
• Help people in need.

Fairness (No. 5 of 7)

 Fairness involves issues of equality, impartiality, proportionality, openness and due process.
To be a fair person, you must:
• Play by the rules.
• Take turns and share.
• Be open-minded - listen to others.
• Don’t take advantage of others.
• Don't blame others carelessly.

Responsibility (No. 4 of 7)

 Responsibility is demonstrating that you consider yourself to be accountable for your actions and that you follow through on your commitments.
To be a responsible person you must:
• Do what you are supposed to do.
• Persevere - keep on trying!
• Always do your best.
• Use self-control.
• Be self-disciplined.
• Think before you act - consider the consequences.
• Be accountable for your choices.

Respect (No. 3 of 7)

Respect is showing consideration and regard for yourself, others, and the world around you.

To be respectful, you must:
• Treat others with respect - follow the Golden Rule.
• Be tolerant of differences.
• Use good manners, not bad language.
• Be considerate of the feelings of others.
• Don't threaten, hit or hurt anyone. 
• Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements. 

Trustworthiness (No. 2 of 7)

 Trustworthiness is being honest, telling the truth, keeping promises and being loyal so people can trust you. Trustworthy people don't lie, cheat or steal. They have integrity and the moral courage to do the right thing and stand up for their beliefs even when it is hard.

To be a trustworthy person, you must: 
• Be honest.
• Don't deceive, cheat or steal.
• Be reliable - do what you say you will do.
• Have the courage to do the right thing.
• Build a good reputation.
• Be loyal - stand by your family, friends and country.

Your Character Counts! (No. 1 of 7)

What Is Character? How Is It Formed? Character is who we really are. It's what we do when no one is looking. It' s the accumulation of thoughts, values, words and actions. These become the habits that comprise our character. That character determines our destiny.

A person of character thinks right and does right according to core universal values that define the qualities of a good person: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition calls these the Six Pillars of Character. Whatever we call them, though, our role as character developers is to guide young people's thoughts, words, actions and habits toward these values, which all people share, regardless of other differences.

The family is the primary character-building force in a child's life, and character education is a major family obligation. It's a parent's job to help our kids engage the world with as much trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship as possible. This challenge becomes more manageable by taking a simple approach and involving the full community in sending a common message about the standards of good character. It also helps to identify other major character influences in anyone's life:

• people we admire

• people who spend time with us

• reactions we observe

• goals

• expectations

• games

• friends

• life experiences

• stories we hear

• books we read

• words we hear

• music we hear

• TV shows and movies

Can you guess what this is?

This Photo is from The West Point Bridge Design Contest's Photos

 

The Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River would have been the world’s longest span. But on August 29, 1907, while it was still under construction, the bridge collapsed catastrophically. The subsequent investigation revealed that the design engineer had significantly underestimated the self-weight of the structure. The bridge simply couldn't hold itself up.

Today’s engineers prevent such catastrophes by using sophisticated computer tools to model and analyze bridges before they are built. You can experience this process firsthand by participating in the West Point Bridge Design Contest!

Follow Up on Tree Octopus Blog

Tree Octopus: Is It Real or Fake?

BUSTED!!

The tree octopus site is often used by many instructors in their classroom to help students distinguish between fake sites and the real ones.  In one of the studies conducted by researchers of the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education, 25 seventh graders were asked to evaluate the site and answer the question, 'tree octopus, is it real or fake?'. In a startling result, 24 of the students had no doubts about the site's authenticity. Instances of such hoaxes being accepted for real are many. We are so prone to accepting information that is given to us within a search of just 20 seconds without putting our own judgment into exercise, that such incidents cast a shadow of doubt on our critical thinking abilities.

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is an internet hoax created by Lyle Zapato, a Washington-based author and Web publisher, in 1998.

Click on the icon above to learn why a tree octopus can't exist!!

Abbott and Costello in Math's a Problem?

In the movie with Abbott and Costello, they have 28 donuts to feed 13 officers. They plan on giving each officer 7 donuts. What! You don't believe that they can do that? Just watch and see. They prove that this is possible using division, multiplication, and addition.

Check this out. Is your math this good?

Have you heard about the West Point Bridge Design Contest?

To find out more about the WV Statewide West Point Bridge Design Contest, click on the icon above.

The West Point Bridge Design Competition is an exhilarating way for students To apply their math and science skills, learn about the engineering design Process, to be introduced to new technology, develop communication skills and have fun all at the same time!
Last year approximately 300 teams entered from West Virginia and over $7,500 In cash and prizes were awarded.

Click below to Download and install the free West Point Bridge Designer 2011 software to use in designing your bridge.