Building Pillars of Character
By Sarah Feyerherm
 Participating in the Character Counts! program at Chestertown's Garnett Elementary School, Washington College's student-athletes are appealing role models who encourage local youngsters to do the right thing.
Even when he sits down in a classroom chair designed for six- and seven-year-olds, senior chemistry major Antoine Bellin towers over the children in Garnett Elementary School's multi-age classroom. The young students gaze expectantly at the 6'7" varsity basketball player, almost in awe. To them, he's a star, a superhero, someone to look up to. Sitting in their midst, he tells them how important it is to have good character, to treat yourself and others with respect and to be a responsible citizen.
Next to Bellin sits Stacy Sines, a sophomore standout on Washington College's swim team who commands the children's attention in an equally powerful way as she talks quietly about trust and what it means not only to trust other people but also to be worthy of another's trust.
Scenarios like this one happen every day at Garnett Elementary School, where more than 50 student-athletes are involved in a program that puts them in designated classrooms to give short, interactive lessons on character. Each of the 12 classrooms there has its own "Character Coaches," student-athletes who have made a long-term commitment to children in the community. Using resource materials and their own innovation, the athletes prepare a 10-minute program that addresses the character "Pillar of the Week."
The Character Coaching program is modeled on a concept designed by Character Counts!, a national nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of schools, communities and nonprofit organizations working to advance character education by teaching the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship and fairness. In many communities, retired adults act as character coaches, but at Garnett, the need for mentors and the willingness and availability of Washington College student-athletes converged to create a program with youth appeal.
The proximity of the College to the school and a desire on the part of the Student-Athlete Mentors (SAMs) to become involved in a community service initiative were the springboards for this outreach effort. Begun as a pilot project in the spring of 2000, the Character Coaching program quickly blossomed as word spread among the athletes that the experience was fun and rewarding.
"This has become our student-athletes' flagship community service program," says the College's athletic director, Bryan Matthews. "It works because everybody gets something out of it. Not just our student-athletes, and not just the kids at Garnett. It's a partnership that has created a lot of good feelings."
 Unlike many community service projects, Character Coaching is long-term. Its significance is not just the message of good character, but the ongoing nature of the lessons. The continuity of having the same student-athletes come to their classroom every week allows the schoolchildren to develop a rapport with them and turns these college students from "heroes" into friends and mentors who care about them.
The Kent County Public Schools have been a part of the Character Counts! Coalition for several years; consequently, the six pillars have been integrated into the curriculum at Garnett for some time. Still, once a week, when these athletes walk into the classroom, the children sit up and pay special attention. The Character Coaches address the pillar of the week through skits, drawings, writings or simple conversation. One only needs to see the rapt attention of the children as they gaze at their local heroes to see that the message is making an impact.
During Bellin and Sines' program on trust, the children take turns telling whom they trust and give answers such as "my mother," "my brother," "my grandmother" or "a policeman." When Bellin asks one particularly shy little girl whom she trusts, she pauses and says softly, "maybe…you?" The connection is clear and the message goes both ways. Good character does not exist in a vacuum. It is how you treat other people and what you get back when you respect and care for them.
To many, the appeal of the program is that it allows student-athletes to move beyond the borders of campus and to realize that they are heroes to the schoolchildren of Chestertown. "A lot of the kids in the community come to our games and cheer for us, so this is one way that I can give something back to them," said Laura Manco, a sophomore on the women's basketball team and a volunteer in one of the two first-grade classrooms.
Sines, who has been volunteering since October, concurs. "This gives me the opportunity to connect with the community surrounding Washington College. I just love spending time with the children and giving them a positive role model to look up to."
In some respects, these athletes volunteer as much for themselves as for the children.
 "Sometimes, when they sit there and stare in awe, you know you are somehow reaching them," said Bellin, who has been a SAM for the men's basketball team for the past two years and is part of the five-member SAM Council that coordinates SAM activities. "It's so rewarding when the kids react to what you are teaching them and when they participate and answer questions," he says. According to Sines, "there is no better feeling than knowing you have helped someone."
Sophomore field hockey and women's lacrosse player Sunni Houston echoes the simple pleasure of devoting time every week to children. "This is valuable time spent," she says. "You gain a friend and an admirer. It's just so rewarding to see a kid who, two weeks ago, was sitting quietly in a corner, now laughing and smiling at your presentation and really getting into it."
The subtle message that she conveys to schoolchildren is not lost on Manco, who has been volunteering all year. "Even if they don't understand the lesson, they do understand that we come to see THEM and to teach them something. We're demonstrating the pillars of character just by being there."
Sarah Feyerherm is assistant athletic director and head coach of the women's field hockey program at Washington College. As an adviser to the Student-Athlete Mentor program, she has been instrumental in directing the College's involvement with the Character Counts! program at Garnett Elementary School. She is pursuing her doctorate in education.
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