‘Froggy and Friends' teach CGS 2nd graders about good character

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Select Chester Grade School 6th, 7th and 8th grade students volunteer to teach 2nd graders about good character. The on-going program has been functioning for several years and is coordinated by Cindy Ponder, School Social Worker and Dr. Jim Beers, District # 139 Wellness Coordinator.

The teachers for this program are upper classmen who volunteer two afternoons each month to work with all four of the second grade classes. Ponder and Beers developed the program with the help and financial sponsorship of the University Of Illinois Extension Office of Sparta.

Julie Mumbower of the U-of-I Extension wrote a mini-grant to cover the cost of materials which include written work books, "Froggy and Friends" hand puppets, activity sheets and instructions for organizing the Ponder and Beers conduct a training session once a month to teach the monthly character training lesson to the junior high students who serve as teachers. The students then go into the classrooms to work with the second graders to teach the character educational programming.

During training each classroom is supervised by one of four adult leaders including Ponder, Beers, Nurse Amy Eggemeyer and Nurse Assistant, Rebecca Cowell. Second grade teachers Tammy Cowan, Deb Guebert, Kasi Jany and Amanda Middendorf are also in the room during the training so that they can include the monthly lesson into the daily classroom routine the remainder of the month.

Froggy and Friends trainers are committed to the program for the entire school year and the second graders have bonded with the 6th, 7th and 8th grader teachers throughout the first semester.

Second grade teachers, Cowan, Guebert, Jany and Middendorf report that they have noticed a positive difference in their classes as a result of the Froggy and Friends Character Education Program and that they do frequently employ the monthly training tips into the classroom to reinforce the lessons.

The 2010-2011 training group consists of four groups of student-trainers. Each group has seven or eight student-teachers as well as the adult supervisor to coordinate and monitor the sessions. Froggy and Friends has been deemed a most successful program and will continue to help second graders learn about good character during the second semester at Chester Grade School.