Success in Texas: The Character Effect™ Helps Students at KnILE Center Thrive

KnILE Center, located in Richmond Texas, is built on a foundation of five core values, integrity, dignity, fairness, character, and compassion. The expectation is that all employees and students strive to achieve these values every day. Sound familiar?

The Character Effect™ proved to be a perfect complement to KnILE’s strategy.

Character Effect Specialist Cheryl Mason supports the school remotely providing professional development, individualized coaching for teachers, weekly parenting tips, and family engagement activities; all the primary components of our popular and effective social and emotional learning program but delivered from 1,000 miles away. “I like to work with students using positive psychology and was looking for a social-emotional curriculum we could implement at our private school,” Victoria Guzman, Wellness Director at KnILE said. “The Character Effect has given us an opportunity to switch our language and approach with the students. This curriculum has granted us the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to helping students.”

“This is KnILE’s first year with The Character Effect™ and they have been able to build resilient students, staff, and families through strengths and mindfulness,” Cheryl said. The partnership demonstrates that not only is The Character Effect™ effective in a variety of school settings, but that the program is ready for national expansion.

In February, the school faced an unprecedented challenge when the state of Texas experienced record-low temperatures, accumulating snow and ice, and lengthy state-wide power outages. That week Cheryl had a family engagement activity scheduled as well as a small group session for teachers to review self-care tips. When the storm hit, the community was paralyzed with school closures, no power, and limited access to the internet. Victoria Guzman, Wellness Director at the KnILE Center reached out to Cheryl via email, from her mobile phone charging in her car. Cheryl was able to coordinate communications to the staff and parents and was able to facilitate rescheduling all the events.

“We had a successful turnout at our rescheduled family event,” Cheryl said. “These family events help provide a strong sense of community.” “Bingo Night through Zoom was amazing and the families that attended absolutely loved it!” Victoria said. “The kids still brag about winning gift cards for being able to have so many strengths on their boards.”

This school year has been challenging enough with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Stress and anxiety is elevated for everyone involved in educating our children, teachers, parents, and of course the students themselves. “During this unexpected weather emergency and on top of COVID-related trauma and stress, The Character Effect™ has been a support for the staff and students at KnILE,” Cheryl said.

Find out how The Character Effect™ can support your school anywhere in the country and even in the most challenging and unexpected of circumstances. 

Learn more about the success at KnILE in this interview with the school’s wellness director Victoria Guzman.