VIRTUES IN ACTION

a goodwill project inspired by the Virtues Project

www.virtuesinaction.com

Motivational intro about the project on youtube.com

PILOT PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE CITY OF SOFIA

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

Idea
The idea for the "Virtues in Action" project was born as an antidote to the prevailing mores in today's society based primarily on material values and the lack of virtues in our relations, especially among the younger generation. The word virtue is so rarely used that probably the majority of students do not know its meaning. According to the Websters dictionary a virtue is a commendable quality or trait. Virtues like caring, honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness are traits that are practiced less and less in our everyday relations. By distributing FREE the folder "Virtues in Action" and introducing the Virtues Project to as many schools as possible we will be able to assist in the moral and spiritual development of children in our local communities and throughout the world since our goal is to work globally with willing partners. The Virtues in Action photo competition and exhibition aim to make the virtues popular among the younger generation and to encourage daily virtuous behavior.

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

1st Element Printed materials
a) Virtues in Action folder consisting of 24 posters A3 format based on the text from the Virtues Cards (part of the materials of the Virtues Project)

b) Virtues in Action wall posters 50x70cm

The goal is the folder and the wall posters to be distributed FREE to kindergartens, schools, libraries, community centers, etc. Parents could also order the folder online from the web site free of charge.

2nd Element - Photo Contest & Photo Exhibition

The idea for the photo competition is children with the help of parents and teachers to capture with a camera moments showing a virtue in action or an element of it. A photo exhibition will be organized with the winning photos that will be displayed in public places such as parks, squares, libraries, schools and others. This will remind the young generation and the general public about the virtues. Once the virtues become an object of attention, the topic of practicing virtues in our daily relations will become popular over time and that would lead to positive changes of the status quo.

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

Here are the selected 24 virtues for this project. 1.Caring 2.Compassion 3.Confidence 4.Consideration 5.Courage 6.Courtesy 7.Creativity 8.Determination 9.Forgiveness 10.Generosity 11.Gratitude 12.Honesty 13.Humility 14.Love 15.Loyalty 16.Patience 17.Respect 18.Responsibility 19.Self-discipline 20.Service 21.Tolerance 22.Trust 23.Kindness 24.Unity
(The complete list of the 52 virtues presented by the Virtues Project could be seen here http://www.virtuesproject.com/virtuesdef.html

Each one of the Virtues in Action posters contains: A quotation by a famous person regarding this specific virtue A description of the virtue Signs of success (when practicing it) An affirmation A photo depicting a scene or element of the mentioned virtue

Larger images of the posters could be seen here http://www.virtuesinaction.com/#!gallery/stackeraccordion0=3

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

Purpose

The Virtues in Action folder with the 24 posters inside is to serve as an introduction to Linda K. Popov's book Family Virtues Guide: Simple Ways to Bring Out the Best in Our Children and Ourselves. The book shows how to:

learn the language of integrity and self-esteem understand the five roles parents play discover ways to introduce sacred time into family life help children to make moral choices.
More about the book in English click here

For more information about the Virtues Project and character education Here http://virtuestraining.com,

http://ondemand.neaacademy.org
Teachers can use ready lesson plans from The Educators Guide of the Virtues Project more about the guide here

More about the Bulgarian translation of the book click here

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

Printed Materials

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project Annual Virtues In Action Photo Contest and Exhibition

practicing respect

practicing courtesy

practicing generosity

Example public places for display of the Virtues in Action annual exhibition

practicing the virtue of trust

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project Pilot Project on the Territory of the city of Sofia
At the beginning, wed like to use the step by step approach, so we decided to distribute FREE of charge 1000 folders A3 format to 3 kindergartens, 3 primary schools and 3 high schools together with sets of 24 wall posters

300 folders for 3 kindergartens or 100 folders for each one.

300 folders for 3 primary schools or 100 folders for each one.

300 folders for 3 high schools or 100 folders for each one.

For the period of 3 weeks, well visit 3 kindergartens, 3 primary schools and 3 high schools. Well present them the Virtues in Action folders as well as a set of the wall posters. During the visit well introduce the Virtues in Action project and will schedule dates for teachers training seminars. The seminars are led by educators who are

teaching themselves virtues in several schools in Sofia. In this way the teachers in the prospective schools can
have an understanding on how to teach virtues in their classes. On the projects web site there will be also available various teaching tools and lesson plans regarding each virtue.

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project Timeline for implementing the pilot project Virtues in Action- 24 weeks/6 months
Goal of the project Each week for the period of 24 weeks (6months) introduce and teach students one of the 24 virtues comprising the project Virtues in Action. At the end of each week after the virtue has been already studied and practiced, well contact the schools and fill out a report with feedback from both students and teachers. All written assignments and projects associated with the virtue will be recorded in a digital record and uploaded to our web site. This is important so, it can serve as an example and demo to other schools interested to apply the Virtues in Action project. At the end of each week students will be asked to create a project in the form of a

photo or photo collage with text depicting the studied virtue. After the completion of the pilot project an exhibition will be organized
with the awarded students works. The prizes will be in 3 categories a) kindergarten b) primary school c) high school. 1st week CARING 5th week COURAGE 9th week FORGIVENESS 13th week HUMILITY 17th week RESPECT 21st week TOLERANCE 2nd week COMPASSION 6th week COURTESY 10th week GENEROSITY 14th week LOVE 18th week RESPONSIBILITY 22nd week TRUST 3rd week CONFIDENCE 7th week CREATIVITY 11th week GRATITUDE 15th week LOYALTY 19th week SELF-DISCIPLINE 23rd week KINDNESS 4th week CONSIDERATION 8th week DETERMINATION 12th week HONESTY 16th week PATIENCE 20th week SERVICE 24th week UNITY

VIRTUES IN ACTION inspired by the Virtues Project

The images below represent part of the current reality of children today and the influences theyre exposed to. It is our responsibility to change the status quo and to make photos like those history.

Bullying in schools

Smoking cigarettes and other substances

Domestic violence

Violent video games

Racial intolerance

Drinking alcohol

Misbehavior in the classrooms

Arrogant disrespectful behavior

At the core of all negative demeanors shown above is the lack of virtuous behavior . This can change once virtues

are taught in schools, starting from kindergarten and parents get educated to speak the language of virtues to their
children. Well end this presentation with a powerful quote by Albert Einstein - The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

Author of the presentation: Teodora Atanasova graphic designer e-mail: paxpublishing@gmail.com