Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Wise Leadership

Congratulations to Ricky Austin for receiving the Catholic Educator Award at the 2024 Minnesota Character Recognition Award! Austin was recognized for his service as the President of the Aim Higher Foundation, the mission of which is to ensure that all children can access the life-changing benefits of a Catholic school. Austin has served in several leadership roles at the foundation. In every position, he has helped make Catholic schools more accessible for thousands of students in the Twin Cities area, doubling the number of scholarships available over the last six years. Austin shared, “Aim Higher Foundation’s scholarships create access to Catholic schools, yes, but they also unlock the potential of children who go out into the world as responsible, caring, agents of positive change. That’s a responsibility we take seriously. It means that we must hold ourselves to the same standards of integrity and service to others to which the students we support will be called. That makes it more meaningful to be recognized for our character while helping children access the best educational environments to develop theirs.” The Character Recognition Awards which was held at the University Center on the Twin Cities campus is sponsored by Synergy & Leadership Exchange and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota to recognize and celebrate schools, community organizations, and leaders in Minnesota that exemplify transformational impact of character formation.

The School of Education Character and Virtue Program at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota recently hosted Dr. Arthur Schwartz for a series of conversations revolving around character. The lectures focused on character?in leadership, the college years, and in association with Positive Psychology. A special thanks to Arthur Schwartz, the president of Character.org, for sharing his insights and expertise with Saint Mary's students, faculty and alumni. #characterdevelopment #charactereducation #charactermatters #highered #leadership

Character and Virtue Exploration (CAVE) club went to Sauer Health in Winona for Its final meeting of the year. The club members visited with the residents and made “pocketful of sunshine” door tags to decorate each resident’s door. CAVE is a club on campus that explores virtues through discussion and service projects.

Exciting news!! School of Education to Host Character Awards! Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota will once again host the Minnesota Character Recognition Awards luncheon in partnership with Synergy & Leadership Exchange on Wednesday, May 22 at the University Center. The event will feature a keynote by Dr. Arthur Schwartz, President of Character.org, a welcome by Minnesota Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Stephanie Graff, followed by the awards presentation that will recognize schools and educational leaders from across the state with awards for Minnesota Ethical Leadership, Catholic Educator, Minnesota Promising Practices, Minnesota School of Character, and Champion of Character. Program begins at 11 a.m. Tickets to attend the event can be purchased for $25 at: https://lnkd.in/gi-jrtbx South Central Service Cooperative Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Wise Leadership

The Ed.S. in Educational Administration program at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota recently held a professional development day for faculty and staff members. Thank you to Marvin W Berkowitz, S.N. McDonnell Professor of Character Education at University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of PRIMED, and Kristen Pelster of CharacterPlus? who presented during this special day! #characterdevelopment #charactereducation #charactermatters #highered #leadership

Members of Saint Mary's staff and faculty were able to attend the The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues U.S. residential in Boston, Massachusetts! The last few days were packed with engaging speakers and presentations from graduates of the Master's in Character Education program. #character #charactereducation #characterandvirtue

When Dr. Amy L. Starzecki is not teaching in our Ed.S. program here at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, she is Superintendent at Superior School District. Watch this fun video as she asks middle school students, “What is a superintendent?” The answers are ?????? !! #superiorspartans #spartanpride?#education #smumn

“What I’ve gained most from the program is a deeper understanding of what it takes to lead and run a school and how important faith is when we are a Catholic school," said Caysie Lavigne C’23 about how her graduate certificate in Catholic School Leadership enhances leadership skills in and out of the classroom. Read more ↓ #catholicschools #catholiceducation #leadership

That's a wrap! Thank you to Debbie Brandt for leading our final CharacterPlus? webinar, and to all who participated this year. We hope that you found helpful tools to form character in your classrooms. #socialemotionallearning #characterplus #wiseleadership #charactereducation #characterandvirtue

Our final CharacterPlus? webinar is this Tuesday, March 5th at 3:30 PM CT! E-mail [email protected] to register. #wiseleadership #charactervirtue #charactereducation