Quote of the Week

 

"Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest, it's about who came and never left your side" - Unknown       

 

 

      

                   

Knight Training: Character Building with Children

It is often a challenge to teach our children good morals when there is so much around them preventing them to thrive on good decisions. Introducing them to these concepts while they are still young helps concrete these characteristics we would like all our children to learn.

 

 This week at the PODER After-School Program, our activities were revolved around "Knight Training."  Knight Training was a week long activity where each day the children would learn skills that would help build character. The topics were INTEGRITY, COURAGE, FAITH, PERSEVERANCE. After a short discussion, kid-friendly examples, and simple definitions of each word, we had a fun craft activities with knightly themes that the children could relate with each characteristic. Here was our Knight Training:

 

INTEGRITY

-doing the right thing even when no one is looking-

There was a discussion and examples on how we can show integrity daily. Examples such as not litter, following the rules even when your friends aren't, and doing what is expected of them even when there is not an adult in the room. The kids also came up with personal examples when they showed integrity. After the short lesson, we gave each child a castle cutout (from Hobby Lobby) with the word Integrity and definition symbolizing a fortitude of moral development. They wrote three examples of how they could show integrity and then they were able to decorate their castle!  

 

COURAGE

-being brave and strong when things are scary or hard-

Again a discussion and examples started the lesson. The kids gave examples such as standing up to bullying, riding a scary ride, and admitting a mistake. The kids were given a picture of a paper sword and they wrote down 3 examples of when to show courage. They were also given gauntlets (from Hobby Lobby) labeled and defining courage and they made "power bracelets"!

 

FAITH

-complete trust in someone or something-

This discussion and example revolved more in about believing in themselves and suggested if they believe in something higher or bigger than themselves that this would relate as well. We asked each child what they wanted to be when they grew up and how they needed faith to help push them to get to their jobs as teachers, cops, and a call to serve others. The kids were given shields made out of paper plates and yarn with the word faith and definition on them. We explained to them that we need to "shield" ourselves from the negative influences in life sometimes and faith helps us with that. They were able to decorate their shields and some even put symbols on what they believed in such as "Mom" and "God".

 

 

PERSEVERANCE

-keep trying even when you feel like giving up-

The last lesson was about continuing to fight even when things get really hard. After explain the definition, the children came up with examples such as studying for a really hard test and passing, riding a bike without training wheels, and showing their abilities even when people tried to stop them. The children then were given dragons to color to symbolize something that might seem scary at first, but if you keep trying and fighting, they will be able to conquer their fears. Dragon crafts can be found at The Crafty Crow and the dragon picture can be printed from Here .

 

 

Each child graduated and was awarded a candy crown for completing Knight Training! The crowns are made out of scrapbook paper, stapled, and taped with "jeweled" candies!

Upcoming Events

Have you ever been curious to see what events the San Marcos Housing Authority holds? Check out our UPCOMING EVENTS page! All events are FREE or inexpensive! The community is always welcome to join in the fun and informative events!

Freedom Riding

 

This story is about Springtown Villa, a site of the San Marcos Housing Authority with a small community of mostly elderly and disabled residents. CARTS (Capital Area Rural Transportation System) is the public transportation that many of these residents rely on since many of them cannot drive and live on a limited income. The community was invited to the CARTS Community Involvement Meeting to discuss concerns and share ideas on how to improve the San Marcos transit system.  Gracie Campos, HCV/FSS Service Coordinator, took many residents to voice out their opinion, and this is her shared experience: 

 

As you know, most of our resident use CARTS on a daily basis and here recently CARTS made change that really had an affect on my residents. The change consisted of when a resident scheduled an appointment in the past, they were able to call CARTS when their appointment was over, and someone would come by to pick them up. This was great and work well for my residents, however CARTS decided to make a change to when my residents schedule a ride, they are given a certain amount of time for their appointment and if they are not done by the time limit, then they have to sit and wait for the next available driver. Sometimes the wait can be a long one and due to physical limitations and prescription medication, it has caused problems for my residents... The residents ended up talking to Mr. David L Marsh, General Manager for CARTS. He seem to understand the situation and asked me to send him an email with all of the concerns (which I did the very next morning). He thanked my residents for attending the meeting and for informing him of how the change had affected them.
 

Gracie helped give confidence to  her elderly and disabled residents to voice their opinion and make it truly count. Let's keep fighting the good fight!