TIMELINE
2009: Formed partnership with West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance
2010: Chamber hosted staff/board training and "Energizer" breakfast
2011: Mary Russell brings Community of Character concept back from national conference; Formed WC Liberty steering committee; Received WC Liberty Community Foundation's moral support – Board discusses quality of the month
2012: Bill Lendl donates West Chester Twp. office space for Character Council; grand opening held; Recruited committee members, created vision, mission and goals.
2013: Identified facilitator and leaders for each Pillar; Recruited West Chester Hospital and RiskSource Clark Theders as Businesses of Character; Lakota Schools, Cox Media Group Ohio, and Liberty/West Chester Townships collaborate to honor students of character in Today's Pulse of Butler County and at township meetings.
2014: Conducted training on character education for Lakota administrators; Held Heroes Annual Celebration dinner honoring Joe Hinson and local students. More than 200 people attended; Character Council presented at chamber luncheon in June; Recruited Advantage RN as Business of Character.
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For more information about The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati’s West Chester/Liberty chapter, visit www.charactercincinnati.org
The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati’s West Chester/Liberty chapter is working to promote strong character development in the community, both among students and business professionals.
The council not only works to build greater awareness of character in the community, it also helps individuals grow in character and integrity, according to Mary Russell, chair of the local committee.
“Surveys show that most Americans feel there is a need in our country for a higher level of character and integrity, particularly as it relates to civility,” Russell said. “To change the country, we have to start at the community level.”
While the the Character Council has been around since 2000, the West Chester Liberty “Community of Character” coalition wasn’t formed until 2011.
Russell said the local coalition got its start after she attended a national conference for character education and learned about the concept of a “Community of Character.”
“Our organization, The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, had already formed a partnership with the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance to become our first local Chamber of Character,” she said. “Because of that partnership and momentum, we selected West Chester/Liberty as one of our pilot communities.”
The local coalition includes 12 active members: Russell, Bill Lendl, Christine Matacic, Gary McClimans, Joe Hinson, Brad Lower, Kathie Baxter, Lynda O’Connor, Stephen Johnston, Andre Gendreau, Nicole Stewart and Lauren Boettcher.
The group meets monthly at its Olde West Chester office and members are asked to tap into their relationships to open doors for collaboration with other organizations in the community.
Each month, the Character Council promotes one character quality through an email bulletin. More than 1,900 people subscribe to the bulletins, many of whom live in West Chester and Liberty townships. In addition, the West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance promotes the word through its website and publications.
The council also holds open seminars on character and leadership development and continues to provide training for employees of local companies RiskSource and Advantage RN.
“In August, we helped Lakota Ridge Junior School broaden their character education program with a full-day professional development session for teachers on their first day back in school,” Russell said. “The Lakota Ridge program is going exceptionally well.”
The Community of Character committee seems to be morphing into a group of representatives from organizations that are actively promoting character internally, Russell said.
“The focus of the meetings is shifting to a sharing of best practices, how to overcome hurdles for champions of character programs,” she said. “We have a long way to go, but momentum is very positive.”
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