By Susan MillerRecord Staff WriterMarthasville Elementary’s flag project has earned national recognition as a Promising Practice from the National Character Education Partnership.Promising Practices in character education are successful, unique ways of reinforcing character traits in prekindergarten through senior high.Each year, as part of the Schools of Character program, Character.org recognizes educators in the United States and four other countries who have implemented unique, specific and effective character education strategies.This is Marthasville’s second award, the first being two years ago for its Family Museum.Many of the winners are from the St. Louis area due to the heavy emphasis on character education in many of the schools.The flag project has been done at both Marthasville and Augusta elementary schools for the past 11 years, according to Cindy Speer, counselor and Chartacter Educator coordinator for the Washington School District.“All of our fifth-graders participate as a part of their guidance lessons,” Speer said. “Students are asked to identify people who have significantly impacted their lives, including family, friends, teachers, historical figures or even famous sports figures.”The students reflect and then write about the special character traits those people have shown that make them special or memorable, she said.“Each child shares at least one of their examples,” Speer said. “We define the character traits and the students are then asked to choose a trait that they want to become known for as they go through life.”The paragraph each student constructs about their own character trait is written on a realistic looking paper flag, then mounted on muslin and framed to be given to their family.“The students and families have come to look forward to this, and many families now have as many as three or even four flags hanging on their walls,” Speer said.Speer said Augusta School also participates in the Family Museum project, but only one school’s name can be submitted on the Promising Practice applications.According to the Character Ed website, most Promising Practices are simple in scope and don’t have extensive costs associated with them. But, they enable students to experience positive character firsthand, as well as enrich their lives and the lives of others.Each winning practice meets at least one of CEP’s 11 principles and at least one of 31 sub-topics, such as Relationship Building, Mentoring/Buddies, Service Learning, or Integration with Academics.Jocelyn Schluss, Marthasville Elementary principal, said she’s excited about the recognition.“Our staff and students work hard each day,” she said. “It is always nice for them to be recognized by someone outside of our building.”Promising Practices award