Blessed Sacrament School honored

SALT LAKE CITY — Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary/Middle School received the 2008 Distinction in Character Education Award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring. The awards ceremony spotlighted schools on their achievements and programs on character education.

Judy Julian, principal, and Sonia West, Director of Advancement, accepted the award on behalf of the entire Blessed Sacrament School Community. The following is noted about Blessed Sacrament School during the awards ceremony: "Core values permeate the life and blood of the school. They are a prominent foundation to the way business is conducted throughout the school community. Teachers, students, and parents build positive relationships with one another. They have initiated such practices as friendship contracts, buddy programs, and student led parent-teacher conferences.

Strong parent involvement with 20 plus hours of volunteer time per family totaling over 9,000 hours a year is remarkable. Most notable is the creation of an Interfaith Meditation Garden where all students and staff members are welcome."

Community of Caring is a character education program for grades K-12. Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded it in 1982 with five pilot programs. By 1994, it had expanded to 450 schools. There are now over 1,000 schools and over 1,000,000 students participating in this program. The Community of Caring offers a whole school approach to character education and is not simply an add-on to the school curriculum.

Research conducted by the Community of Caring shows that it is effective in promoting positive school culture and improves attitudes, attendance, grade point averages, and character.