Hempstead City of Character - Building Character in Hempstead

The Character Council of Hempstead will promote character in the six sectors of
our community:

- Family
- Business
- Government
- Education
- Faith
- Sports

As individuals begin to make character develop- ment a priority in their lives, the
level of good character in every area of the community will begin to improve.
Furthermore, some will become passionate about seeing good character grow
and will become champions for it in the sector of the community where they are
most involved. Printed materials and colorful resources are available for the
various sectors to promote good character in ways that suit the goals and
activities of their area of interest.

Promotion of the character qualities in the city could be pictured as a
three-legged stool, with all three legs being necessary for balance.

1. The first leg is "educate." Each month, a character quality will be promoted
through various forms of media. Signs placed at the entrances to Hempstead will
show the quality of the month. This website will give the concept behind the
quality, as well as details and illustrations to clarify it. Some of these qualities
will probably provoke us to think in new ways about right behavior. (Even though
these qualities are time-tested principles, our present culture has done much to
erode or hide them.)

2. The second leg is "activate." The discussion of each month's character quality
will include action steps called "I will" statements. Furthur tips for building the
quality in the lives of individuals and institutions will be included in the
discussion for each sector.

3. The third leg is praise and reward. As we re-tune our thinking to rewarding
character, rather than achievement, we will find creative ways to honor good
character.

The Character Council will provide means of rewarding those displaying good
character by honoring publicly those who have been nominated by citizens.
Watch this website to see who won the character award each month!

Institutions within the various sectors of the community may also begin to
reward those who have shown good character within their ranks (ie, businesses
may choose to honor an employee with a "good character of the month" award;
families may honor their children periodically with little awards for good
character; teachers may choose to honor a student for good character each
week or month.)

Best of all, citizens who are thinking more about character will begin to praise
those around them for the good character they see in them. As we praise others,
the level of respect and goodwill in the community will multiply.