BREMEN — After completing the newly launched American Character program, done in partnership with the Liberty Learning Foundation, students at both Cold Springs and Good Hope Middle schools incorporated the lessons they learned from the past to impact their communities today.

Cullman County Schools Secondary Curriculum Coordinator Kim Lindsey said the existing middle school Civics curriculum already covered historical figures such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas. By supplementing those lessons with this program, Lindsey said students were able to not only learn about the impact these figures made, but the characteristics that defined them.

“The kids learn about those people from history that goes along with their civics class, with a focus on how they were good citizens and how they gave back to their communities,” Lindsey said.

The students were then asked to put those lessons into practice by creating and implementing a service-based community project which they shared at the Good Characters Expo on Tuesday, May 2, and Wednesday, May 3, at Cold Springs and Good Hope respectively.

The projects at each school aimed to address a wide variety of community needs. Where one group expressed concern for the elderly and focused on sending encouraging letters to nursing home residents, another looked to help ease the transition into their school for incoming students by creating a virtual tour of the campus or teaching elementary students what the middle school experience is like from a students perspective.

Jonathan Pitts said his group chose to face their own shortcomings by reading to younger students. “We decided to read to third and fourth graders because we don’t really like to read ourselves,” he said.

Pitts said this not only encouraged others to develop a love for reading at a young age, but gave the members of his group a newfound appreciation for the pastime.

Several groups chose to take on issues much broader in scope, such as increasing autism awareness and combatting racism. Julianna Barnett said her group focused on finding ways to help their peers who might be facing a mental health crisis.

After the group learned the school’s counsellors and nurses typically see two or three students each week who are struggling with depression, suicidal thoughts or eating disorders, they began researching ways they could provide support to those students.

“We learned just talking to them and listening to them helps a lot. I think that’s one of the biggest things we can do,” Barnett said.

After the success of this year’s program, Lindsey said she plans to incorporate it into more school’s in the future, beginning with Holly Pond Middle School next year.