Character Education
Creating the Whole Quest Student: The Knights Program
Good character is the foundation of every legitimate success in a person’s life. We believe that good character can best develop under the direct guidance of the adults in a child’s life. To complement the family values learned at home, we provide our students with opportunities to discuss and analyze good character, and we help students practice using good character in decision-making at school. We believe that when children practice responsibility, they learn responsibility; we believe that when children practice the words and actions of compassion, they learn what compassion truly is.
Our students have outstanding gifts and talents, which can only be enhanced by good character. We seek to guide them in developing the well-rounded character that will serve them well in life and help them serve others.
Good character does not always come easily. It often takes many life lessons for a person to collect enough experiences to understand the importance of good character. Our community celebrates the growth of all students. However, we recognize that there is no predetermined timeline for achieving good character. This is truly a life long quest.
The Quest Student & The 8 Traits of Character
The Quest Academy Character Education program encourages each student to develop respect for self, for others and for his or her surroundings through internalization of the following traits: compassion, courage, generosity, gratitude, honesty, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline.
For each trait, we have chosen a symbol. These symbols remind us of the qualities we all strive to embody. Everyone in the Quest community must know these symbols in order to recognize and commend our Pages and Squires for the traits they demonstrate.
Compassion is tender responsiveness to another’s misfortune and is symbolized by a heart. We must always take into consideration the feelings of others as we contemplate our own actions.
Courage is a confident and reasoned approach to challenges. The French symbol of the fleur-de-lis is used here. It reminds us that it is the courageous among us who point the true path along the road to knighthood.
Generosity is a willingness to give freely. The sun stands for the warmth that is spread for every act of kindness. In this symbol, the rays remind us to spread our giving in all directions, while the spiral reminds us of the rejuvenating power of giving.
Gratitude is appreciation of kindnesses received. The stars remind us that we are but one small piece of the universe and that we must be thankful for all that we receive.
Honesty is straightforwardness in thought, conduct and speech. We must liken ourselves to the true arrow, using pure accuracy in our words and deeds.
Respect is esteem for another’s self-worth. This symbol is four distinct triangles, all of equal size, all connected to each other. Likewise, each of us is of equal worth, and each of us is connected within a larger community.
Responsibility is accountability for one’s words and deeds. The earth reminds us of the far-reaching consequences of every action we take.
Self-discipline is correction of oneself for the sake of improvement. The balance recalls the need to strive to keep behaviors in check and to remain levelheaded.