"Education worthy of its name is essentially education of character."
~ Martin Buber, philosopher
Brighten Academy began as a desire to provide students with experiences that cultivated their curiosity, grew their character, and emphasized giving back to the community. The founders of our school wanted to create an atmosphere where students were active learners and would use their skills to become productive members of society.
Our charter reads: “Brighten Academy’s educational model is designed to educate and develop each child in a variety of ways including increasing academic knowledge and application, fostering character traits which are universally valued, and preparing students to serve in their communities.” The founders wanted to educate the whole child, preparing them for life. |
Implementing the 7 Cs of Character

This desire to educate the whole child gave birth to the cornerstone of our school’s character education program, the “7 Cs.” The original 7 Cs were curiosity, critical thinking, community, culture, creativity, commitment, and character. Our school worked to foster these character traits intentionally through acts of service demonstrating the 7 Cs, as well as explicitly teaching the character traits to our students. When our school joined the EL Education network, our staff was committed to keeping this important part of our school culture, and the 7 Cs worked seamlessly with EL’s 10 founding principles. When reflecting on our 7 Cs and envisioning what our future held with EL, our staff decided that all of our 7 Cs reflected character. The decision was made to replace character with craftsmanship, and our 7 Cs became the 7 Cs of Character.
Our students have always been explicitly taught the 7 Cs, and the 7 Cs Green Shirt Award has been a coveted award. To earn this honor, students must complete 14 additional activities (two from each of the 7 Cs) outside of school time. Activities are outlined in our “7 Cs Deck,” and students in 2nd to 8th grade can complete these to earn the award. Kindergarten and first grade students participate in targeted lessons and crew meetings to learn about how to demonstrate the 7 Cs. Museum trips, creating original works of art, and physical and mental challenges are just a few examples of activities in the 7 Cs Deck. The prize for completion is the “Green Shirt” for 2nd-5th grade students. A “Green Hoodie” is awarded to 6th and 7th graders, and for 8th graders a “Green Cord” is awarded to be worn at their graduation ceremony with their cap and gown.
Assessing the 7 Cs
Brighten Academy students are measured on the Habits of Scholarship with a 7Cs report card. When we joined the EL Education network, the equal importance of the three dimensions of achievement (mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high quality work) helped to solidify our beliefs about growing our students' character. Our students’ growth in Habits of Scholarship is measured by a rubric with increasing responsibility as the student matriculates up to the next grade. Our goal is for students to reflect on the Habits of Scholarship and to make a connection with their academic growth. As we implemented the rubrics, we saw we have room to grow in strengthening this connection. Students are routinely rated on the rubric, but the explicit connection to academics is something we will continue to reiterate with students until it is truly an equal part of the triad of the dimensions of achievement. The correlation between academic grades and HOS has been weak, and our school is implementing steps to strengthen it. More work on this from an instructional end will help students take ownership of this piece of their learning.