Citizen lessons

Today, as we talked about what characteristics make up a citizen I had flash backs to elementary school. In my elementary school we had monthly citizenship assemblies. Everyone hated it. Each month the entire school would be herded into the gym with music blaring and our principle dancing to be packed in and smooshed together (we had an overcrowding problem in my district) for an hour long assembly. There were the "8 Keys of Excellence" and each month we would focus on one "key" to being a good citizen. At the assembly they would talk about what the featured key meant, how to live out that key and then we had the awards. Two kids from each class would be chosen every month as "Citizen of the Month" and be given a certificate and a sucker for being exemplary cases of what ever key had been the focus of the month. After the awards were handed out we had to dance. Yes, dance. Not just any dance, THE dance. The Keys of Excellence came with a dance and we had to do it. Over, and over and over again. I was really happy when I left Neubert elementary because I knew I would be leaving those assemblies behind too. And what do you know, here it is again, 7 years later.

Talking about being a citizen in class today made me wonder how my dancing principle and the assemblies fit in with what we talked about. According to my elementary school, the keys to being a good citizen were:

Integrity
Speak with Good Purpose
Commitment
Flexibility
Failure Leads to Success
This is it
Ownership
Balance

What we talked about in class does match up with the "Citizen of the Month" qualities. We talked about commitment and fulfilling your duty as a citizen. In a way, this fits in with ownership. Taking charge of your duties by fulfilling your responsibilities. Things, such as speak with good purpose and flexibility would make our citizens and our society more ideal but I guess we shouldn't expect too much at once.