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When a student goes to school, there are the obvious things they will learn about in classes – math, reading, writing, science, social studies, etc. But, this isn’t all there is to learn at school. This student is also likely learning more about themselves, what kind of person they are, and what that means in the relationships they form with their peers. Many times this is somewhat self-guided, something not necessarily learned in a classroom. With Character Playbook, that has changed.
Character Playbook offers schools a way to be a part of that learning with their students. It teaches kids what healthy relationships look like, problem solving, and how to discuss how they are feeling. This program is made possible thanks to a partnership between EverFi, the Arizona Cardinals, and Valley of the Sun United Way.
In Arizona, this program was in 85 schools teaching 5,996 students through 89,026 hours of learning. Before Character Playbook was implemented, students were surveyed about what their current relationships are like.
These surveys helped discover two groups of students and the gap in social and emotional awareness. Relationship whizzes, who were more likely to answer questions about relationships and self-management in ways that aligned to CASEL standards for social and emotional awareness, and relationship evolvers who were less likely to do so.
With Character Playbook, students learn how to create and maintain healthy relationships through interactive modules on a computer. These modules provide example scenarios and help kids understand what they can do in these situations.
After completing Character Playbook, students showed improvement in social emotional learning.
“I like that these topics aren't things most teachers talk about to students. Students have an opportunity to go over other important topics that aren't specifically academic.” - Student, Phoenix
“This course helped me deal with situations I am struggling with every day. It gives you a chance to think about what you would do before you have to do it.” - Student, Phoenix
The students aren’t the only ones enjoying the program. 95% of teachers would recommend Character Playbook to a friend or colleague.
“In my yearbook class I had the fortune to have two amazing students to choose from for the role of Editor-In-Chief. The student selected heard a conversation about her being “Second Choice” after the first one had turned it down. You can imagine that hearing something like this could really derail and hurt a student or really anyone. Despite all of this happening she surprised me with her response. Rather than get upset with the girl who was ”gossiping” or with me for making the choice, she asked to speak to me after school. She asked me if the comment was true and how she should handle what she heard. I can’t tell you how impressed I was with her approach to this challenging situation. To stop and think, to ask questions, and to ask for help were all topics she had learned in the Character Playbook program. It was amazing to see her put them into action when she could have easily made a hard situation worse.” - Tamara Tapia, Teacher at Mesa High School, Mesa, Arizona
If you are interested in learning more about bringing Character Playbook, contact Dawn Gerundo at dgerundo@vsuw.org.
Character Playbook is just one program available with EVERFI. Take a look at these flyers to learn more about free programs for Arizona educators:
