Mr. Suggs

Summerville’s ASB leads the Community Building activities during flexes, utilizing the Character Strong Program.

Summerville’s Associated Student Body (ASB) has begun presenting community building activities during varied Monday Flexes–they are using a curriculum called Character Strong. ASB director Mrs. Soto explained that the ASB program has done these presentations in the past during PE classes, when the program was initially brought to the campus. As the program recently returned to the campus, students and staff had differing opinions on the impact of the activities.
Mrs. Soto noted that the program formed at Summerville High School from the idea that we should spread kindness in our school environment.
“We had a speaker come years ago named Houston Kraft who spoke about kindness and the benefits of taking time to be intentional in our actions in spreading kindness around. The Character Strong program was developed by Houston and other educators and speakers to help develop skills,” Mrs. Soto said.
She went on to state the purpose in bringing Character Strong activities back to Summerville was to bring the community together.
“The purpose is to give the opportunity for people to learn more about one another and make connections on campus that they may not have had the opportunity to make,” Soto stated.
ASB member and sophomore Vice President Carter Webb, expressed his opinion on the presentations.
“I would say it’s kind of cool, but it’s also awkward when students don’t talk and give feedback… If I could make a change about the activity I would want a different classroom,” Webb stated.
Summerville student Trislin Myra described her experience with the program in her Flex [period] and discussed the room for improvement.
“When people go up there, no one in the class is listening to them trying to talk… It’s just kind of a huge mess because nobody wants to listen to a bunch of kids. So maybe ASB is not as authoritative as they should be because it’s kind of chaotic,” Myra said.
However, Summerville student Emma Mansfield explains the positive impact the activities brought to her flex, led by ASB members Trenton Miller and Carter Webb.
“I had a good group in mine so they made it pretty fun, but I think if it was anyone else, it would be pretty boring because the activities weren’t very fun,” Mansfield noted.
Summerville High School’s art teacher Mrs. Castle discussed the program being a good idea for high school students and appreciated the ASB students for doing their part in the activities.
“I think the Character Strong lessons are well-intended, and that the ASB students are doing a great job considering they probably wouldn’t choose to lead the lessons. Social-emotional learning, community-building, and inclusivity are massively important on any high school campus,” stated Mrs. Castle.
She went on to explain the impact on her students in homeroom flex now that the ASB has taken over the activities.
“There seems to be more engagement in my flex homeroom since the ASB students have been coming in. As a teacher, it has taken a weight off of me for the ASB students to lead the activities, but I do still participate fully,” Mrs. Castle said.
Overall, in the future Mrs. Castle hopes the ASB will move past the get-to-know-you activities and towards more relevant topics in the program.
Mrs. Soto described the topics of each presentation being chosen and her intentions for the program at Summerville.
“The activities will actually be pulled from multiple places. The next activity will be different from the previous two activities… I hope that students take away a better understanding and maybe a little more compassion for those around them,” said Mrs. Soto.