Group acts out importance of character

Home-schooled students put on a production at Lake Myrtle Elementary School that stresses good character in songs, poems and games.

By MICHELE MILLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- As an elementary school student Bryan Ellrod has had his share of character education. Usually, Bryan said, the lessons about minding manners and showing consideration to others entailed filling out worksheets and listening to long lectures.

But this year, Bryan and other students in grades 3 through 5 at Lake Myrtle Elementary School had the pleasure of being entertained while learning their lessons.

Character First, a curriculum taught by home-schooled students that features songs, poems, skits, a horse, a dog and some game show fun -- think Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with a good character twist -- was a hit with students like Bryan, who attended the voluntary sessions held twice monthly throughout most of the school year.

"It mixed education and entertainment," Bryan said. "I'm glad they didn't just talk on and on."

"The way they presented it, it was easy to remember," said classmate Andrew Slaven.

Much preparation went into the program, taught for the most part by Nicole and Stephanie Larkin of Land O'Lakes and Steven and Amanda Curry of Dade City. Other home-schooled students pitched in occasionally, but the Larkins and the Currys were a constant during the sessions that focused on forgiveness, gratefulness, obedience, truthfulness and attentiveness.

Audience participation was a must. During each session, Lake Myrtle students learned a song or poem and the lessons seemed to stick better that way, said guidance counselor John Thomas.

Thomas and fellow guidance counselor Scott Atkins said they were surprised with how much their students retained. During the final-exam game show called Who Wants to Be a Character First Kid? the students knew nearly all the answers, Atkins said.

"The curriculum was pretty much like what we have here," said Atkins, adding that both he and Thomas screened the program to make sure there were no religious overtones. "But this was presented in a fun way. The kids (home-schoolers) were very enthusiastic and very well-prepared."

"They were obviously very talented and good role models for the younger kids," said Thomas, adding that a big draw was the horse -- a wild mustang called Blazer that the Larkin girls had trained and brought to the school to demonstrate the importance of attentiveness and obedience.

Putting together the skits was a lot of work for the homeschoolers and practice sessions went anywhere from 2 to 5 hours, said Mary Larkin, who supervised her daughters and the Curry children. There were costumes and props to make, skits to write and lines to memorize.

"I'm a real taskmaster," Mrs. Larkin said.

Mrs. Larkin said she first approached the school district about bringing the program to Pasco schools because, she said, "We wanted to do something this year to give something back to our community." Lake Myrtle Elementary School was chosen for the pilot program because of its proximity to the Larkin home.

For 16-year-old Nicole, teaching the program was the realization of a personal goal.

"I've wanted to start some kind of a ministry trying to teach character traits -- character qualities everyone needs to learn and become a good citizen with more values."

"I liked it a lot -- teaching the kids. I enjoyed watching the kids laugh while they're learning the character qualities that are important for everyone,"said Steven Curry, who at 16 is the oldest of seven siblings. "I think younger kids look up to their older peers; I know I did when I was younger."

"It was fun getting to teach the kids," said Amanda Curry, 13. "That was something new to me. And even when we messed up, it was okay because it made the skit funnier."

"We really enjoyed these classes and, I think, so did the kids," said Mary Larkin, adding that perhaps next year they will take their show on the road to other Pasco County schools. "It really sunk in, which was really thrilling for us. I think it grew them a lot; it stretched them a lot."

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