Pen Argyl Freshmen Learn About and Explore the Four Pillars of Character Education

By Addison Manning

On Monday, September 8, Character Education hosted their 4th annual Freshmen Workshop.

Every Freshman student gathered in the auditorium during fourth block and were introduced to the Code of the Green Knights, the Character Education program, and the officers running the event.

Students were split randomly into several groups and scattered across the basement and around the school in order to tackle different activities prepared by the Knights' Order. Each activity was led by a member of the Character Education team who helped guide the students and ask questions to gauge interest.

Photo Courtesy of Addison Manning

Carlena Alfred, President of The Knights' Order, introduces the Freshmen to the Code of the Green Knights at the beginning of the workshop.

“We do four activities that each revolve around one of the pillars of the Code of the Green Knights in order to teach them what each means,” said Ella Mamana, one of the lead coordinators of the event and Project Manager of the Knights' Order.

The first activity stemmed from the pillar of Protect Integrity. Will Manning, sophmore struggled at first coming up with an idea to showcase integrity in an engaging way.

Manning said, “I came up with the activity to play a card game with the freshmen and have the group leader cheat to show bad integrity.”

Photo Courtesy of Addison Manning

Fletcher Marsh leads a group of freshmen through a game of Diversity Bingo. The activity is meant to teach students about Honoring Diversity to promote inclusivity throughout the school.

Students in each group played a simple game of Go Fish, with the group leader secretly cheating throughout the game. The purpose of the activity was to make freshmen understand how cheating or having bad integrity effects not just themselves, but the people around them as well.

“I think that just shows how vital integrity is in our society and how important it is that we all keep that at the top of our values,” said Carlena Alfred, President of Character Education.

Freshman Caden Metzgar commented saying “My favorite activity was the Scavenger Hunt.”

The most anticipated activity of the workshop was the scavenger hunt under the pillar of Accept Challenges. Students were tasked with finding Character Education related items around the school with the fastest time. Freshmen had to work together to solve the riddle given to find each object as well.

When asked about the preparation that went into the event, Krista Campbell, advisor, praised the work of the leadership team who planned the event.

“This activity is purely student driven. My role in this was minimal, the students did it all,” quoted Campbell.

Manning and Mamana organized the activities and were a major factor in the success and smoothness of the event.

Overall, the workshop was a huge success and had lots of positive feedback from freshmen and teachers alike.

Alfred talked about plans for next year’s workshop, saying “The freshman workshop as a whole is a learning process. A main theme we are noticing is just learning from what we have done in the past and making sure we can make adjustments as needed.”

Metzgar, when asked about the effectiveness of the Freshmen Workshop, stated that he now has “a better understanding of the Green Knight Code than I had previously.” An important part of the workshop was making sure the underclassmen had clear understanding of the core values and expected behaviors of PAHS. As of now, Character Education is already preparing for next year’s workshop and new activities.

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