Union Academy Volunteers for Hunger and Homeless Candlelight Vigil

Photo from the Union Academy Newsletter, Nov. 17, 2016

Each year Union Academy chooses a community need to support during the school year. The Union County Community Shelter was the top choice for 2016-2017. On Monday, November 14th, staff and students volunteered to provide and serve food for the Union County Hunger and Homeless Candlelight Vigil. Headmaster Dr. Ann Walters led the volunteer effort serving a pork barbecue dinner and speaking on Union Academy's commitment to serve the community.

The candlelight vigil is part of the Union County Community Shelter's annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, held nationally each year the week prior to Thanksgiving. "This is a time for us all to start to reflect on what we are thankful for. It is also a perfect time to share our compassion with our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness, and work toward a world where no one has to experience Hunger and Homelessness," said Kathy Bragg, Executive Director of the shelter.

Volunteering at this event opened the eyes and hearts of all involved. "This makes me rethink my Christmas wish list," said UA junior LeKayla Love. "Those kids were just like me," said 2nd grader Gage Brun.

A National School of Character provides opportunities for moral action (Principle 5) and defines character to include thinking, feeling, and doing (Principle 2). Volunteering at the Candle light vigil on Hunger and Homelessness is an example of why Union Academy received the designation as a National School of Character.

 Click here to learn more about the Union County Community Shelter:  http://www.unionshelter.org/ 

UA Appreciates Community Helpers!

On Wednesday, November 9th, the lower campus hosted its first Community Luncheon. "This was a chance for our school to say thank you to many of our community partners and to help students realize that little acts of respect have a big impact, " said Mr. Bretz, lower campus principal.  Thirteen members of the community attended the luncheon and ate lunch with a select group of Kindergarten through Fourth Grade students.  The mayor of Monroe, Union County sheriff officers, firemen, and a United States veteran, were among the many community members honored at the lunch. Strong partnerships with the community is a hallmark of a National School of Character (Principle 10) and this luncheon exemplified Union Academy's commitment to maintaining and recognizing those partnerships.

 

Spirit Week Builds a Caring Community

Photo Credit:  UA Charter School Facebook

    One of the primary ways you know that your school has a positive culture is by assessing school pride and this year's Homecoming week visually indicated that Union Academy excels at creating a caring community (Principle 4 of the 11 Principles of Character Education).  From staff to students, all members of the Union Academy family participated in the activities planned by the middle school and high school student councils.  Doors were decorated, halls were transformed, and costumes were planned, all in an effort to demonstrate how proud we are to be UA Cardinals.
    The Friday spirit parade was a new addition to UA's homecoming week tradition where each of the high school grade levels were invited to march.  Middle school teachers were invited to bring their classes to view the festivities, pulling together the entire upper campus community.  "I thought those students dressed up as Mr. Zorn and Dr. Walters were so funny!" said middle school student, Grayson Brun.
     Also indicative of UA's positive culture was the number of attendees at the homecoming football game on Friday night.  The home-side bleachers were packed, filled with students, parents, staff and alumni.  Over sixty-five staff members came out in support the Cardinals, but most heart-warming was seeing the UA Alumni.  Class of 2016 graduate, Halee Bennett, even guest cheered with this year's varsity cheer squad.
     Union Academy's goal as a school is to create an environment where students feel connected and safe.  When you see students participate in high numbers during spirit week and continue to show up on campus even after they graduate, you know that you are doing something right.  #WeAreUA
Check out Union Academy''s Facebook page for more photos from Spirit Week!

UA Students Learn By Doing!

  

      Students are running around the room, stepping on number cards.  Shouts are occurring across the room.  "Where is eight?"  "What number are you looking for?"  What appears to be a chaotic classroom turns out to be an environment filled with life lessons.  This is Mrs. Rushing's Experiential Learning class where she teaches all students in Kindergarten through 8th grade lessons on life and character.

     In Experiential Learning (EL), Mrs. Rushing facilitates a learning experience that almost always appears to be a fun game or activity.  Today's lesson is about communication, synergy, and helping each other, although the students will not figure this out until the end. She instructs the students to work as a group to step on a set of numbered cards in sequential order as quickly as possible.  To make things a challenge, the numbered cards are randomly dispersed around the room.
     After the first round, Mrs. Rushing asks students to reflect on the experience by asking, "What did you notice?" Students raise their hands, eager to respond.  "Everyone was so loud, I couldn't hear anything."  "There were only a few students who would help you." "It took some people a lot longer than others."  "It was hard to find the number you needed because they were all over the place."  They are then asked to think of possible strategies to make the challenge faster.  She doesn't agree or disagree with the ideas, but allows the students to process the suggested strategies.  The group sets a goal for improvements (a throwback to last week's EL lesson on goal setting) and then allows time to problem solve before restarting the experience.

     On round two, the room is less disorganized, but again filled with smiling students bumping into each other.  Yells continue to fill the air.  The group implements their system for finding numbers. Hands are raised in the air with numbers, students are looking out for each other.  They complete the challenge more quickly and are visibly proud of their accomplishment. When discussing round 2, Mrs. Rushing asks the class to think about how their ideas worked and what could be done differently. They are then asked to relate those lessons to school.  Students pipe in, "We should ask for help when we need it."  "Or if you see someone who looks lost, just offer to help them."  

  The bell is about to ring and Mrs. Rushing asks the most important question of the entire lesson, "What did you learn today?"  Fifth grade student Shelandee sums up the lesson by saying, "People may not know you need help if you do not ask."  "And when you help each other, it's a lot easier to get the job done," adds Shelby Brooks.

     But the lessons are more than asking for helping, or offering help to those who need it.  That may be the obvious goal accomplished, but experiential learning is more.  In this one class period, students step outside their comfort zone.  They are allowed the freedom to move around the room, get loud, interact with each other, and think outside the box.  They solve problems and learn to make mistakes in safe environment. They experience how to make eye contact while speaking and how to disagree without being disagreeable. According to Mrs. Rushing this is the biggest benefit of Experiential Learning.  "Kids do not have a lot of opportunities to solve problems in life without some sort of adult intervention- from a parent, teacher, or coach.  It takes a couple of lessons before they realize that no one is going to tell them the solution.  My class teaches students how to think on their own and how to collaborate with others.  We shouldn't wait until they are adults to learn these skills."
     Experiential Learning is an addition to Union Academy thanks to Dr. Walters.  "I believe Experiential Learning works hand in hand with our school's charter of developing the whole child.  It is an intentional approach to develop skills for life success that are not part of the regular curriculum.  Learning to work with others, develop compassion, and how to reflect on life's lessons are just a few of the benefits we expect to see through EL."  According to Mrs. Rushing, that is the beauty of her lessons.  "Because the group dynamics determine the final outcome, you never really know exactly what will be taught and it may be different for each child.  I can teach this lesson six times and walk away with each group learning something slightly different, all just as important."  For instance in this activity, one class walked away thinking about how important it is to ask for help and to offer help to those who look lost.  Another group reflected on how important it is brainstorm with each other and to plan before jumping into an activity. "Those unexpected lessons are just as important, or sometimes more important, than any that I may have planned."
     In a few short weeks, Experiential Learning has already demonstrated it's usefulness.  It is an excellent example of how UA defines character to include thinking, feeling, and doing (Principle 2 of the 11 Principles of Character Education) and how UA has a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to teaching competencies needed for real-world success (Principle 3).

Chart above from http://www.joe.org/joe/2007february/a2fig1.jpg

20-Time: Building Innovation and Character

    

Principal 6 of the 11 Principals of Character Education indicates that a school of character will provide a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners, develops their character, and helps them succeed.  One perfect example of Principal 6 at Union Academy is 20-Time in Rachel Tohill's English III Class.

Jonathan Alzate, Braden Eilerman, Jacob Barringer,
 and community supporters at the Dedication Ceremony.

    20-Time is based on Google’s innovative work policy which gives employees 20% of their work time to collaborate and create personal ideas that could advance Google. Just as Google has realized real advances from 20-Time, so has Union Academy. This year, Mrs. Tohill provided her students 20% of the their class time to think outside the box.  
     According to Mrs. Tohill she taught 20-Time because, "I wanted to give my students an opportunity to explore their interests and make real-world connections to English Language Arts standards. An important component of the project involved the students taking the lead on the process and understanding that the process itself was as important as the final results. In the end, we had products that included videos, photography, interviews, blogs, community service projects, construction projects, graphic design, writing, auto mechanics, animal rescue initiatives, art projects, school spirit projects, and the list goes on. And some of the projects are continuing beyond the school year; they have gone from being a "project" to being a real world experience, which is very exciting." 20-Time developed all of UA's 8 Character Traits in Mrs. Tohill's students, but especially put into practice initiative, perseverance, and responsibility.
     

One of the most successful projects was the installation of a putting green on the UA campus. Three students in the class, Jacob Barringer, Braden Eilerman, and Jonathan Alzate developed the idea and managed the installation of a new golf green, chipping mat and sand bunker located near the football stadium at the Upper Campus. It took eight weeks for the students to research, identify resources, develop contacts and to actually participate in the construction and installation of turf.    
     "I'm so impressed with my students that they jumped in to this experience with only 8 weeks to complete it, and only having just met me as their teacher! They took risks, explored ideas, and embraced the opportunity to be creative and to think "outside of the box." We really became a team in this experience and learned so much!" said Mrs. Tohill. 
     Students appreciated the 20-Time project as well.  Kaitlyn Havican, an eleventh grade student wrote an interactive book of devotionals/gospels for middle school girls.  "I learned how to budget my time. I learned that you need to proof read over and over again! 20-Time was an awesome experience for me. I was able to get out of my comfort zone and do something I love. I got to think for myself and make an impact on people." 
    Would you like more information on 20-Time and how to implement it in the  classroom?  Take a look at this presentation created by Mrs. Tohill as part of her own 20-Time project or try this amazing website filled with ideas and template.  

Union Academy is named a National School of Character!

Now the entire nation will know what we at Union Academy have always known to be true and practice every day and that is “We do the right thing even when no one is looking.”  

On Tuesday, May 10 Character.org, a national advocate and leader for character education announced that Union Academy had been named a 2016 National School of Character. In January we learned that we had been named a 2016 North Carolina School of Character and had been nominated by the North Carolina State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction for the national honor.

Through an in-depth and rigorous evaluation process, our school was one of 67 in the nation found to be an exemplary model of character development. Union Academy is being recognized as a school that has demonstrated its use of character development to drive a positive impact on academics, student behavior, and school climate. The designation of National School of Character stands for five years before it has to be renewed.

Please click here to read the entire press release.

 Please click here to read more in the May 13th - May 19th Newsletter. 

Please click to see media coverage from Page Crawford, Fox 46 News.

This article was written by the UA Communications Department.

Reading Buddies... And More!

     Ready Buddies are a tradition of the Union Academy Lower Campus that succeeds in building student relationships between grade levels, and in building confidence and excitement in students.   The idea began with having older students (grades Third and Fourth) pair with younger students (grade Kindergarten and First) for monthly reading time.  As it was originally intended, these reading times help both older and younger students gain confidence in their reading skills.  However, over the years, UA has discovered that there is much more to gain from the time shared together.
     Since its inception, the Reading Buddy time has morphed to also include students sharing with each other the things they are learning in their classroom.  For instance, Fourth grade students complete four projects throughout the school year centered around the history and geography of North Carolina.  Mrs. Hinson, a fourth grade teacher, asks her students to share their projects with their first grade reading buddies.  This experience gives her fourth grade students a chance to practice presenting to a small group and causes them to take more pride in all of their hard work.  According to Mrs. Anthony, first grade teacher, it also helps her younger students.  "You can see their interest perk up as they watch the older students share their projects.  This time together helps our younger students get excited about what they will experience as older students at UA."
     Over the course of a school year, these students have built relationships with each other.  They consider each other friends, or as one first grade student wrote to his buddy, "You are a hero."  Many Reading Buddies go out of their way to say hello to each other on the sidewalk or to send each other character mail.  Just this week, younger students thought about how they could help their 3rd and 4th grade friends get excited about the upcoming End of Grade tests.  Some classes took the time to write notes of testing encouragement to their older buddies. Principle 4 of the 11 Principles of Character Education focuses on how a school creates a caring community.  Lower Campus Reading Buddies are an excellent example of how Union Academy builds relationships between students of different grade levels, strengthening the "UA Family."

Union Academy Service Day: Rice Packing for Nicaragua

All 1400 Union Academy K-12 students and staff members gathered at the Upper Campus on Wednesday, March 23rd to pack over 50,000 meals for malnourished children and their families in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. The meal packing effort at the school was coordinated through Servants with a Heart, a non-profit organization founded in 2011 by husband and wife team, Jeff and Suzanne Yoh, who wanted to serve others together with their three adult children.
“Our mission is to feed hungry families in Charlotte and around the world by equipping organizations to host meal packing events,” said Suzanne Yoh. “Our food is primarily shipped and distributed to families in Nicaragua through our partnership with the Perry Brown Family and their nonprofit, Samaritans International. We also work with local Charlotte organizations to distribute food to local families.”
Wednesday’s rice packing event was the second for Union Academy. The school also helped the organization in April 2014 to meet its five year goal of packing its 10 millionth meal by the first week in July 2016.
“Union Academy’s mission is all about challenge, character and community. The rice packing event supports all three of these,” said Ann Walters, Union Academy headmaster. "It’s a great opportunity for our kids to not only learn about poverty, but to also participate in an effort to benefit those who suffer from it on a daily basis.”
Students, who are divided into “families” made up of elementary, middle and high school students, made three rotations during the half-day event. One rotation taught them about the culture and need that exists in Nicaragua, another gave them an opportunity to taste the meals they were packing and decorate the packing boxes, and a third provided participation in the actual rice packing assembly lines. Union Academy school counselor Kelly Brun said, “Our hope is that our students will learn that it feels good to give back and we hope that feeling stays with them and leads to a lifetime of serving their communities. Each meal we packed today goes directly from our kids’ hands to the hands of starving kids in Nicaragua.”
Article by Luan Ingram

Click here for an article published in the Union Weekly about the event.

Union Academy Named 2016 North Carolina School of Character

Union Academy is pleased to announce that it has been named a 2016 North Carolina School of Character by Character.org, a national advocate and leader for the character education movement in collaboration with North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The program recognized Union Academy as a school that has demonstrated its use of character development to drive a positive impact on academics, student behavior, and school climate.

The Schools of Character application process is an opportunity for schools and districts to receive thoughtful feedback for growth and excellence in the area of character development. It is also a method of recognizing exemplary schools and districts in the nation. Union Academy is the first charter school in North Carolina to receive this designation and is one of only four school recognized in the state this year. Criteria for the designation are based on Character.org’s 11 Principles of Effective Character Education, which includes providing students with opportunities for moral action, fostering shared leadership and engaging families and communities as partners in character-building efforts.

"Going through the application process was an eye-opening experience for me. As a proponent of UA's Character Education program, I often find myself focusing on what could be better and not celebrating all of the things we do right. After looking at the 11 Principles, I realized the impact that our Character Education program has had on the entire UA Family and the greater community. Due to our culture, 95% of students return to our school each year and we have a 93% student attendance rate. Last year 98% of our graduates were accepted into college. As a school we give back to the community, with last year's high school students completing over 19,000 service hours, not to mention the many hours served by our students in grades K-8. Community and family engagement is high, best noted in the accumulation of over 24,000 volunteer hours in 2014-15 school year. This is the data that proves that Union Academy is a School of Character," said Kelly Brun, Character Education Counselor.

Character Education has always been at the forefront on Union Academy's mission. When the school was established in 2000 the character education journey began in the founding principles of the charter itself. The charter was developed by parents to create a school that educates the whole child by incorporating community service and eight guiding character traits into a challenging curriculum. Challenge, Character, and Community are Union Academy's core values that guide every aspect of the school. The Character Education program involves parents, staff, students, and community members. Ultimately, the goal is to teach and model character in an effort to create a culture that develops students into good citizens, lifelong learners, and community volunteers. Designation as a North Carolina School of Character indicates that Union Academy is meeting that goal.

According to Kelly Brun, "UA's character education journey will never end. Our goal for modeling character will continue to grow and change just as our school and society change. This designation doesn't mean that we are finished. It means that as a school we are on the right track for educating students to be the best citizens they can be. That is what makes Union Academy a School of Character."

Visit www.character.org to learn more about the Schools of Character program.

Teaching Character through Team Leadership Jobs

While every student may not excel in athletics, every child feels valued and important in Kate Schill's lower campus Physical Education class.  "My team  counts on me," said Hayley in 2nd grade.  "As Equipment Manager I have to do a lot!" This is the culture that Miss. Schill has created for her students.   Through the development of student jobs, the lower campus gym is a place where every student matters and feels the responsibility to help others.

"I started team jobs over ten years ago for a variety of reasons," said Miss Schill.  Each quarter, students are placed into teams of 5 and assigned individual jobs for the team.  From Clothing Keeper to Problem Solver, each student is given responsibilities and consequently learn to work effectively together.  You can see right from the start that it helps create order and cuts down on chaos, but this is secondary to helping students practice leadership and Union Academy's eight Character Traits.

The skills learned in elementary PE are remembered years later as evidenced in speaking with current eighth grade student Jack Vitacco.  "I loved PE with Miss Schill," he said.  "Because of the teams in her class I was able to get to know my classmates better. I learned to never give up, even if it seemed too hard."   That is another benefit of student jobs; they help students feel connected to others by building relationships.  In addition, they provide opportunities for students to feel regular successes and appreciated.

Miss Schill advocates that all classrooms could benefit from creating student jobs in their classrooms.  Leader In Me, by  S, Covey states that teachers begin by asking themselves, "What can students do that I am currently doing?"  The key is not so much the jobs the students are doing, but the fact that they are taking ownership for the orderliness and success of the classroom.  Take a look in Miss Schill's gym.  Talk to her current or previous students and you will see that the lessons they learn in her PE class are more than how to hold a hockey stick or the proper form for push-ups.  They learn that they are significant to achieving their own success and to the success of others.  Those are the long-term lesson of Character Education.

Teachers and staff look below for some ideas on ways to create leadership jobs for students:

Help spread the word on how Union Academy focuses on Character Education.  Email Kelly Brun at kbrun@unionacademy.org with suggestions on a teacher, lesson, activity, or practice that should be highlighted on this blog.

Union Academy hosts Jerry Ackerman, speaker on Social Media Awareness for Parents and Students

This week, Union Academy hosted guest speaker, Jerry Ackerman, who addressed parents and high school students on Social Media Awareness.  Mr. Ackerman is a leading student speaker who helps students be responsible, develop character, and build a focus on others, instead of just themselves. When Technology Director, Katie Stewart discovered the opportunity to have Jerry speak at Union Academy, she knew that the school could not pass up his presentation.  "Social media issues and communication are such a hot topic in today’s society.  I felt like both Union Academy parents and students could benefit from hearing how to stay safe online, how to communicate effectively, and how to be responsible while using technology," said Mrs. Stewart.  

On Tuesday night, Mr. Ackerman spoke on "Parenting the Snapchat Generation".  In his workshop, parents learned about the current state of technology in a student's life and rules that parents should have for their child and technology.   He discussed the dangers involved in applications such as Snapchat, Thumb, Burn Note, and Down which can open users up to communicating with unknown  persons and cyberbullying.  Parents learned about apps that can be used to hide media including videos, texts, documents, and PDFs (often disguised as a calculator). In addition, Mr. Ackerman provided useful tips to parents such as using Life360 to help keep up with your child's location.  "I learned so much from the presentation and was reassured that it's OK to be a protective parent.  It is not a violation of privacy to keep up with who my kids are communicating with online and it is my job to protect them from online dangers," said Amy Plyer, a Union Academy parent and employee.    

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Ackerman addressed the high school student body with his keynote, "Dude.  Be Nice."  In this workshop, he discussed with students the "dos and don'ts of social media" and why a person's online identify matters long term.  He provided real life examples to drive home his points.  Personal responsibility, respect, and compassion for others were key topics.  Senior Shawna Sheperd felt that Mr. Ackerman's message "was a good reminder of our social media footprint and how it can affect our lives."   Throughout the presentation, Mr. Ackerman used student volunteers to demonstrate his message.  The students appreciated Mr. Ackerman's high energy and anecdotes that drove home the message on making good choices and showing good character.

Guest speakers such as Mr. Ackerman are just one of the many ways UA strives to meet its mission of educating the whole the child and facilitating collaborative family and community involvement.  

Journaling Towards Emotional Well-Being and Success

After reading the Psychology Today article, Writing Your Way Through Emotional Pain, Miss Dotson, a High School Social Studies teacher at Union Academy, was inspired to teach her students methods for gaining positive emotional health and gratitude.  She began this project in December with a discussion about the article and the purported benefits of "Morning Pages" or journaling.  This led to classroom discussion about the benefits or detriments of our self-talk, or the constant stream of thoughts that float around in our subconscious. For many teenagers the self-talk is often negative and unproductive.  According to the article, journaling is an excellent tool for a person to tune into their feelings and move towards achieving goals and happiness.  Miss Dotson put these discussions into action by giving her students 10 minutes in class each week to journal.  

"Think of it as a time to empty your brain.  You can write down anything that comes to mind.  This is your time.  It is my gift to you,"  she told her students.  At first, many students were uncomfortable with the assignment and especially with the silence. "Most teens have not been taught to tune in to their own thoughts and feelings," said school counselor Kelly Brun.  "Instead they are constantly bombarded with technology and social interaction."  With guidance, support, and repetition, Miss Dotson's students now understand and appreciate the weekly warm-up.  "As a Junior, I have a lot of stress thinking about college, scholarships, and my grades.  By writing it all down, I feel more calm and on top of all those lingering tasks," states UA student Autumn Richard.

According to Miss Dotson, students now request to have time for Morning Pages.  "I think that many of my students have discovered the value of journaling and have found common themes in their negative thoughts or feelings."  Awareness of those patterns leads to change and that change leads to success in life.  Mrs. Brun sees the long-term value in teaching students to self-reflect.  "If kids can learn at a young age the power of thoughts, they can tap into that power and move towards success."