Pillars of Character & Words of the Week

West Field... Where Everyone Succeeds Together

Our monthly Pillars of Character are derived from the Character Counts! program.
You may learn more about Character Counts at www.charactercounts.org .
Our Words of the Week are integrated with the Pillars of Character and
are based on Great Expectation's Life Principles.

Monthly Theme: Life Principle	Date	Word of the Week "WOW"	Definition	Quotes
Monthly Theme: Life Principle
Responsibility	Intro Week Aug. 21-25	Responsibility	Taking credit, or criticism, for your own actions.	The choices we make dictate the life we lead. - Unknown
	Week 1 Aug. 28 - Sept. 1	Self-Discipline	The ability to choose and control one's own actions.	Once a task has begun, never quit until it's done. Be the labor great or small, do it well and do it all.
	Week 2 Sept. 5-8	Perseverance	The ability to persist, or continue striving, to the end.	Success lies in the finishing, not the dreaming or the starting. - Unknown
	Week 3 Sept. 11-15	Effort	Doing your best in an endeavor.	If better is possible, good is not enough.
	Week 4 Sept. 18-22	Problem Solving	Creating solutions and finding answers.	Learn from the mistakes made by others. You won't live long enough to make them all yourself.
	Week 5 Sept. 25-29	Resiliency	Recovering from or adjusting easily to misfortune or change.	We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. -Bertha Calloway

Respect	Week 6 Oct. 2-6	Respect	Giving honor to another.	The Four R's: Respect yourself; respect others; respect your school; respect the law.
	Week 7 Oct. 9-13	Kindness	A kind act; an act of good will.	Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. - Senecca
	Week 8 Oct. 16-20	Courtesy	Showing consideration for others.
	Week 9 Oct. 23-27	Patience	The ability to wait calmly.	Our patience will achieve more than our force. - Edmond Burke
	Week 10 Oct. 30- Nov. 3	Flexibility	The ability to make adjustments or alter plans.	There are no victories without conflict; no rainbows without storms.

Fairness	Week 11 Nov. 6-10	Fairness	Playing by the rules.	Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. - Native American Proverb
	Week 12 Nov. 13-17	Justice	Being fair, right, and upholding what is right.	This above all: To thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. - Shakespeare
	Week 13 Nov. 20-Dec.1	Common Sense	Thinking before acting; using good judgment.	Do not go through life like a leaf blown from here to there believing whatever you are told. - Socrates
	Week 14 Dec. 4 - 8	Tolerance	Respecting the differences of others.	We must all learn to live together as brothers (and sisters) or perish alone as fools. - Martin L. King, Jr.
	Week 15 Dec. 11-19	Cooperation	Working together.	I believe the welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all. - Helen Keller

Trustworthiness	Week 16 Jan. 3 - 6	Trustworthiness	Keeping your word; doing what is right for yourself and others.	If you can't trust a person at all points, you can't truly trust him at any point.
	Week 17 Jan. 8-12	Honesty	Truthfulness in words and actions.	Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. - Ghandi
	Week 18 Jan. 15-19	Commitment	The keeping of a promise or pledge.	Go put your creed into your deed. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
	Week 19 Jan. 22-26	Integrity	Acting according to a sense of right and wrong.	In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock. - Thomas Jefferson
	Week 20 Jan. 29 - Feb. 3	Loyalty	Faithfulness to another.	I will speak ill of no man and speak all the good I know of everybody. - Benjamin Franklin

Citizenship	Week 21 Feb. 5-9	Citizenship	Behaving in a responsible manner as a citizen of a community.	"Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy
	Week 22 Feb. 12-16	Service	Giving of one's time and energies to help others.	"Serving the needs of others is the light that brightens each day." - Douglas Lawson
	Week 23 Feb. 19-23	Esprit de Corp	Devotion among members of a group for each other and purposes.	"In this classroom we care about each other. We don't use put downs or sarcasms. We help each other do our best. We sink or swim together."
	Week 24 Feb. 26 - Mar. 2	Propriety	A standard of what is socially acceptable in conduct & speech.	"Courage is not the absence of fear; but rather that something else is more important than fear."
	Week 25 Mar. 5-9	Patriotism	Love for or devotion to one's country
	Week 26 Mar. 12-16	Leadership	Inspiring others to excel by the courage of your example.	"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." - Thomas Edison.
	Week 27 Mar. 26-30	Courage	Strength to act even when afraid or uncertain.
	Week 28 April 2-6	Initiative	Taking action; originating new ideas.	"You've got brains in your head, you've got feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss
	CRT Week April 9-13	Ambition	Strong desire to achieve your best.	How high I am, how much I see, how far I reach, depends on me. - Unknown

Caring	Week 29 April 16-20	Caring	Sharing, valuing, and caring about each other's feelings.	Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa
	Week 30 April 23-27	Compassion	The ability to share another's feelings or ideas.	Kindness is a language heard by deaf men and seen by blind men. - Mark Twain
	Week 31 April 30 - May 4	Generosity	Freely giving of time or resources.	Giving is a rich way of living.
	Week 32 May 7 - 11	Humanitarianism	Helping other humans	As small as it may seem, a good deed is always worth doing. - Spark Matsunaga
	Week 33 May 14 - 18	Optimism	To anticipate the best possible outcome	There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up. - Booker T. Washington
	Week 34 May 21-25	Friendship	Caring for and trusting one another.	Tart words make no friends. A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar. - Benjamin Franklin