Community Conversation Examines Newtown’s Character

By Eliza Hallabeck

Looking back on Saturday’s Community Conversation on Cultivating Character, District Health Coordinator Judy Blanchard said the roughly 50 participants, including local volunteer moderators, generally commented on the event being a success.

“Most of the people who have been [at the conversations three times] thought this was the best conversation,” said Ms Blanchard.

The Community Conversations are underwritten by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, and were first brought to Newtown in 2009, when roughly 100 community members gathered together over multiple meetings to discuss the topic of bullying.

A year later another group of roughly 100 community members discussed the topic of underage drinking. Communities awarded the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund grant have a better likelihood the following year of being awarded the grant again for another topic.

The goal of the conversation is to bring together a diverse group of residents, regardless of their socioeconomic status, age, gender, faith, or racial ethnicity. Volunteers from the community train as moderators and recorders to help identify and track the common ground of each group’s discussion.

The school district’s Strategic Plan Committee on Character Development wrote the grant application this year, according to Ms Blanchard, and the Community Conversation will further the committee’s efforts. This year’s conversation has the goal of identifying and modeling character attributes that should be embedded throughout the school district and town.

Ms Blanchard said the Character Development Conversation brought few male participants to the Saturday event, and she hopes more men and women will attend the next meeting for the discussion, scheduled for March 29 at 7 pm.

Community Conversation participant Donna Hoffman agreed with Ms Blanchard that there was a low turnout of men at the event, and said afterward that she hopes more men will participate in the future.

Ms Hoffman’s son, Newtown Middle School eighth grader Christian Hoffman, also attended the event. He was one of multiple students, both from the middle school and the high school, who attended the Saturday event, and Ms Blanchard said the students “stole the show.”

“The students were phenomenal,” said Ms Blanchard.

At the middle school, according to Ms Hoffman, students were selected for their ability to interact with adults.

“Christian felt [the experience] was very positive,” said Ms Hoffman, “and he hopes to be invited back in March.”

Ms Hoffman is expecting to attend the next meeting for the Community Conversation on Cultivating Character.

“I thought it was excellent,” said Ms Hoffman. “I think they have a good idea in general to cultivate character especially in the schools and the community in general.”

Finding Common Ground

The event included an introduction and welcoming presentation, small group discussions, and a whole group discussion.

Some of the “common ground” points the group discussed included raising awareness of behaviors, understanding the importance of being a role model, and being conscience that words reflect on the character of the individual who uses them.

Common ground topics were also listed on large sheets of paper for participants to organize notes.

“Character development starts at home,” one paper noted. Another said, “The relationship between home and school is important.” And another said, “Embrace all individuals.”

Ms Blanchard also said participants responded positively to the school district’s Character Development Committee’s Core Character Attributes tree, which was shared and put on display in each school in the district this year. The attributes associated with Cultivating Character in the diagram are trustworthiness, respect, caring, responsibility, citizenship, and perseverance.

Participants also filled out feedback forms after participating in the event.

“This is a wonderful conversation,” one participant noted. “I am hoping this is a first step and that real actions/steps will be taken as a result.”

Another respondent said, “I was so impressed by our student representatives. The conversation was stimulating, and I very much enjoyed the experience.”

The first conversation, on bullying and mean behaviors, resulted in steps created for how the discussion should continue and impact the local community. Each conversation results in next steps, and the conversation on bullying and mean behaviors had results in the school district, according to Ms Blanchard. It developed community values, developed intervention and a process of identifying students without supportive persons. In addition to those items, the school district now has a District Bullying Prevention Committee, Ms Blanchard said, and the committee plans to survey students on bullying and mean behaviors.

The following year’s Community Conversation on Underage Drinking, Ms Blanchard said, was one of the factors that helped Newtown receive the federal Drug Free Communities grant, a $125,000 grant spread out over five years. There is an emphasis on the topic of underage drinking across the board in Newtown, Ms Blanchard said, with Newtown Youth & Family Services conducting interviews funded through a state grant and the Newtown High School PTSA planning to hold its second Freshmen Forum on Underage Drinking later this school year.

The March 29 Community Conversation on Cultivating Character will determine what actions will be the result of this year’s conversation.

Ms Blanchard said she is hopeful adults will embrace topic of Cultivating Character in Newtown, because if the adults do not embrace the topic she is fearful of how it will spread to students.

“It’s got to be a community task,” said Ms Blanchard.

Ms Blanchard said anyone interested in attending the next Community Conversation on Character Development can contact her for more information by e-mail, blanchardj@newtown.k12.ct.us, or phone, 203-426-2798.