Each person is diligent, with the inner strength and determination to pursue well-defined goals. It does matter that a task is completed once begun, and everyone acknowledges that to persevere not only teaches discipline, but brings rewards as well. Each person discovers that one of life's greatest satisfactions comes from kindness to others. Members of the community look for opportunities to contribute positively to others, without expectation of reward. Different approaches have been tried.
Some schools identify character as a subject to be taught.
Others give students case studies to work through and solve. It is discovering lessons in virtues across the whole curriculum. For example, in Hopewell, Virginia, students study heroes and heroines in history who exemplify virtue. A school's greatest impact occurs not in the formal lessons taught, but in creating a climate in which virtues are learned by example. Children at the Orchard School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, end each day by publicly thanking fellow students as well as teachers for the help they've received that day.