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Friday, October 10, 2008

Guest Post: Dean Kilmer


SAVING OUR SCHOOLS
Dean Kilmer
Igniting the Moral Courage of America
moralcourage.net


Today’s schools echo with the sound of disrespectful students, wild uncontrolled classrooms, stories of teachers having affairs with students, teenagers becoming pregnant and even shootings. (34 fatal shootings since Columbine)

Wait a minute! That’s only part of the story! Our schools also have hundreds of dedicated teachers who are completely committed to the education of our young people. In our schools you find young people who are living with great integrity as they serve our communities and become the future leaders of our nation.

Here are five ways to highlight the best in our schools as we eliminate the worst.

1. DEVELOP A SCHOOL BOARD WITH MORAL COURAGE!
Never forget the final say in our local schools rests with the school board. In spite of the many government regulations on schools, the real power in the local school is still the school board. You elect the school board, the school board hires the superintendent, and the superintendent recruits the principal and the teachers. If you make sure to elect people of character to your school board they will hire people of character. If you want a quality school, you must get involved in the politics of the school! Elect honorable people that care about character and discipline.

2. SUPPORT EVERY GOOD TEACHER AND EVERY GOOD STUDENT IN YOUR SCHOOL.
You can make the light shine on those people who have great moral courage in your school. Get involved in the PTO, have your church adopt a school and provide volunteers to help the teachers. Let the administration know that you support good discipline and character development. Provide articles to the local paper about the good things being done by students in the school. Attitude is more important than reality! If your community believes in your schools and your kids, they will live up to expectations. If you believe the kids are terrible, they will live down to your expectations.

3. START A CHAPTER OF THE MORAL COURAGE FOUNDATION IN YOUR SCHOOL.
The Moral Courage Foundation was started by Gary Bassett a businessman in Dallas for the purpose of providing $25,000 scholarships for students who live by the moral standards of the Bible. This last year the whole city of Waxahachie Texas was inspired when 20 students were recognized for their strong moral character. One student received a $25,000 scholarship, two received $2500 and the seventeen were given smaller awards. As a result, the city is proud of its good kids and Gary has been invited to speak to all the students in the school district about developing moral character. With this much emphasis on the good kids, it will not be long before the younger ones are being molded into great leaders. (Information on the Moral Courage foundation is on page 45 of Igniting the Moral Courage of America or on our website www.moralcourage.net)

4. STOP BEING AFRAID!
Truth has nothing to fear! We have become afraid to speak up for what we believe because the immoral minority has told us we must keep our beliefs out of public life. How ridiculous! You are what you believe! If more than 90% of Americans believe in God, you can certainly talk about God in our schools! The only thing you are not allowed to do is force someone else to accept your ideas. You have the right to pray, talk about God and the Bible as long as you don’t force your ideas on others. Sure, some people will complain, but if the school is improved by your actions, why are you worried? (pp. 136 & 137 of Igniting the Moral Courage of America has a list of the rights we have in our schools.) Don’t be afraid to speak up for what you believe. I have personally seen sex education programs redirected by concerned parents, text books changed because of involved parents, before and after school Christian clubs and organizations formed by concerned parents.

5. DEVELOP A SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM, NATIONAL PRIDE AND COMMUNITY PRIDE!
As our world rushes toward a global economy, students are being encouraged to develop an understanding of other peoples and other nations. However, your children will always be confused if they don’t develop a foundation for their own lives before they try to understand other cultures.


Thanks for sharing your passion with us Dean. For those of you who appreciated my previous mentions of Do Hard Things, I believe you will enjoy Dean's book, it is a do hard things for adults.

3 comments and creative thoughts:

Tracee said...

What a great blog - I'll be stopping back!

CherryBlossomMJ said...

Tracee, I'm so glad you got to see such a quality post. I do hope you will enjoy other reviews, guest posts, and giveaways that I have to share!

Doreen said...

Hi, I'm glad I came across your bloggy! I love reading the posts from the Authors! Glad I subscribed!

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