DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Teaching Values, Not Religion West Bloomfield Schools and a religious coalition counter school prayer by promoting character education. JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER C an values be taught in the public schools? And will the existence of formalized val- ues education dissuade the religious right from pushing for prayer in school? West Bloomfield Schools and the members of Clergy and Citi- zens United (CCU), a coalition of more than 200 Jewish and Chris- tian community and religious leaders, believe the answer is yes. Founded in 1995, CCU fights efforts to introduce prayer in school and works to promote "American values" in place of re- ligious values in the schools. "It would best serve the com- mon good if the effort to put prayer back into public school classrooms were to be rechannelled into putting basic values of good citi- zenship back into the public school curricula," says a CCU statement. The coalition = whose mem- bers include Rabbi Sherwin Wine of the Birmingham Temple and Rabbi David Nelson of Congrega- tion Beth Shalom — drafted a code of conduct, consisting of val- ues such as loyalty and trustwor- thiness. The guidelines were then distributed to area public schools. West Bloomfield is the first school district to adopt the guide- lines and has been recognized by CCU for its efforts. West Bloomfield Superinten- dent Dr. Seymour Gretchko has been involved with CCU since 1995 and helped draft its 10-point code of conduct. The character education cur- riculum has been implemented in the district's elementary schools, and plans are in the works for the higher grades. According to Dr. Gretchko, the district is not treat- ing character education as a sep- arate discipline, but is integrating it into the general curriculum. For example, "unselfishness" is being taught through a second- grade class discussion of a book, Stone Soup, in which the charac- ters contribute ingredients to pre- pare soup for travelers. "Respect" is taught through a third-grade social studies class discussion about Martin Luther King Jr.'s advocacy of non-violence. Robert Pyles, principal of Scotch Elementary School and chair of the district-wide character edu- cation committee, describes the new approach to character edu- cation in his school as building- wide, involving children from each grade. Throughout the school year, students focus on address- ing six specific values, and at weekly assemblies, Mr. Pyles rec- 20% off everyday 20% off everyday 20% ognizes teachers and students who demonstrate these values. According to Janet McBurney, assistant principal at West Bloomfield High School, charac- ter education at the high school level will be implemented next year and will include character recognition programs, develop- ing a student code of conduct and adding a community service com- ponent to civics classes. West Bloomfield administra- tors say response from parents has been positive. 'When we first started incorporating [character education], we sought input from parent leaders," said Ms. McBur- ney. "One concern we might have anticipated was parents feeling we were stepping in the family realm. But what we heard from many parents is that they saw this as a natural complement to values [taught] in the home." Ms. McBurney added that the values statements are "ex- tremely non-controversial, de- signed to not breach the gap between church and state." According to Dr. Gretchko, `These are universal values. The church-state issue simply has not come up." But will the non-controversial values espoused by CCU ap- pease advocates of school prayer? "There's is a good ap- proach — we should all live by those tenets," said Kathleen Straus, president of the Michi- gan State Board of Education. However, she questions whether it would deter efforts to impose prayer in schools. Dr. Gretchko is more confi- dent. "What [the program] does demonstrate is that it is possible to have a universally accepted set of values and to deal with char- acter education in a way that is not religious," he said. Representatives of the Michi- gan Family Forum, an organiza- tion that advocates prayer in public schools, did not return phone calls on the issue. At its first annual American Values Awards Dinner, CCU and its subsidiary organization, the American Values Institute, re- cently honored three people from West Bloomfield's Scotch Ele- mentary School for exemplifying "American Values for American Schools." Fourth grader Alison Miles was recognized for assist- ing fellow students as a peer tu- tor, while music teacher Mary Ellen Sobetsky was honored for developing the school's year-long theme on values. Principal Robert Pyles received the Amer- ican Values Award for imple- menting values education in his school and for chairing the dis- trict-wide character education committee. ❑ THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN MICHIGAN Experience the luxury of owning a Kohler 3.5 gal. toilet. These superior flushing toilets are available in select areas only, in this case, two short blocks from the tunnel exit in down- town Windsor. The best part for you, the discriminating shop- per, is that your U.S. dollar is worth much more in Windsor. We have 1 and 2 piece toilets in a variety of colors in stock for you to take home today. 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