Ellisville Schools to be Highlighted in National Character Education Conference

Educators from Ellisville will be among several Rockwood School District teams spotlighted for best practices and excellence at this year’s Character Education Conference, taking place June 25-27. It's the 18th annual conference, and it happens to be occurring at the St. Charles Convention Center this year.

Ellisville's teacher Shelley Smith will present “Bodies and Brains in Motion: Building Citizens of Character who are Fit for the Future” at the event. Additionally, will be honored as a 2012 “National School of Character.”

The conference attracts educators across America to learn how to build character and good behavior traits in their students and schools. This year's theme is "Changing the World Through Character Education."

will have more featured presenters at this year’s conference than any other school district. In addition to the Blevins Elementary presentation, the other Rockwood presenters include:

• Principal Sharon Jackson and teachers Vicki Austin and Jeff Engle will present “Building Blocks of Effective Character Education” at the conference.
• Stanton Elementary School Principal Matt Miller and students will present “The Leader in Me”
• Uthoff Valley Elementary School teachers Jan Araniecke and Mary McCullough will present “Uthoff Valley’s Newest Viking and Building a Caring School Community”

Four keynote speakers and 50 breakout session leaders will cover subjects such as: 

• Whole-School Culture
• Bully Prevention
• Social/Emotional skills
• Curriculum Integration
• Academic Achievement
• Staff Buy-In and Collaboration
• Student Leadership
• Service Learning
• National Data Research/Trends

The conference is geared toward all three strands of education:  elementary, middle and high school.

The Character Education Conference is presented by CHARACTERplus, a program of Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis.