Harford Friends Student Serves Maryland Character Education Board

Street, MD-June 20, 2008 - Recent Harford Friends School eighth grade graduate Callie Jakuszeit was appointed in December to serve as the student representative to the Maryland Center for Character Education. Ms. Jakuszeit, daughter of Jennifer Noffke and Gerd Jakuszeit of Joppa, serves the Board on its web site development sub-committee and in its general Board meetings.

According to its web page, MCCE (formerly known as the Maryland Center for Values Education) is "dedicated to making a difference in the ethical lives of individuals and the entire community through education, example, and action." The Center sponsors the annual Maryland State Schools of Character awards with the Maryland State Department of Education and Character Education Partnership and produces a monthly newsletter that "highlights Best Practices, Upcoming Events, Character Education Resources, Recommended Readings and Web Sites, Parent Corner, Student Corner, Business Community, and news from the Center."

"It is a joy to have Callie Jakuszeit as our student member of the Maryland Center for Character Education's Board of Directors," remarked Dara Feldman, President of the MCCE Board. "Callie offers us honest insight to issues that relate to students and character education as well as creativity for the revamping of our website."

Of her work with the Board of MCCE, Callie stated, "It has been a great educational experience working with the MCCE Board." Harford Friends School was invited to select one of its students to participate on the MCCE Board and Callie was nominated by her teachers to represent HFS and to be the student voice to the state-wide character education advocacy group. The group includes educators, representatives from business, community institutions, and government, among them are Mark Beck - Beck, Powell and Parsons, Architects; Paula McCoach, Character Education Specialist, MSDE; Capt. W. R. Rubel, Untied States Navy; and Brad Frome, Prince George's County Council.

According to Harford Friends School Head and fellow MCCE Board member, Jonathan Huxtable, MCCE is lucky to have a student of Callie's caliber. "Callie is such a great synthesizer of information that she is able to observe, listen, evaluate, and then make very reasoned and insightful recommendations to a group of adults who may not have been seeing something as broadly as Callie. She is not a prototypical 'rah, rah' leader. She leads through example and a commitment to fairness."

Callie will attend Newbury Park High School in California in September. She is particularly interested in joining the International Baccalaureate (IB) program offered by the school. When asked about her work with the MCCE Board Callie replies, "It has been a great educational experience working with the MCCE Board." She recognizes the importance of character education and states, "I hope that we [MCCE] can make a difference in Maryland schools and homes."

With Callie's family's impending relocation to the West Coast, Ms. Feldman is grateful for the time Callie's spent with MCCE. "She helps us to keep our work real and meaningful. We are grateful to Callie for her commitment and leadership!"