This is the first week of the new Student Athlete Program. This program is designed to improve the character, sportsmanship and leadership of high school athletes.  This program should be fun and engaging. It is not supposed to be “one more thing” or “something you have to do.”  Each week we will focus on a different trait.

Season 1	Season 2	Season 3
Commitment	Positive Attitude	Coachable
Desire	Enthusiasm	Passion
Determination	Initiative	Preparation
Perseverance	Effort	Grit
Appreciation	Teamwork	Sportsmanship
Discipline	Unselfishness	Competitiveness
Accountability	Trust	Caring
Humility	Good Judgment	Composure
Honesty	Integrity	Courage
Faith	Tolerance	Service
Leadership	Leadership	Leadership
Character	Character	Character

To teach each trait, you will receive 7 daily lessons via our online app. Each day of the week is different and the format looks like this.

• Monday Life Lesson – Powerful pre-recorded life lessons delivered by coaches and athletes.
• Tuesday Sports Blog – Dr. Hoedel will author a sports-based blog about current events related to character and leadership.
• Wednesday Role Model – Students will read about a group of diversified sports-oriented role models that exemplify the traits covered in the program.
• Thursday Dilemma – Students will respond to sports-oriented ethical dilemmas to teach decision-making skills and ethics.
• Friday Pep Talk  – Passionate speeches from coaches via YouTube will be viewable to get athletes ready for the big game.
• Saturday Movie Clip  –  Segments from character-based popular sports movies will be viewed and discussed.
• Sunday Goals – Student-athletes will complete short assignments to improve their individual and team performance.

The sports blog is provided every Tuesday. My plan is to write about a sports-related current event about character and leadership.

Purpose of Blog: Every week I will sit at my computer and write about a sports-related current event about character and leadership.  In the blog, I usually provide my perspective, a video link and discussion questions. The purpose of this blog is to make a simple point – character and leadership matter today!  Some of these stories will be inspirational and some will teach tough lessons. Sometimes it will be about someone who ruined his/her life with one bad decision and sometimes it will be about a selfless act that positively changed someone’s life. The joy of writing this blog is that I never know what will transpire that will become a blog post.

My Hope #1 – Read It: Every Tuesday you will receive a notification via the app about the new blog post.  To be honest, I spend 2-5 hours every week researching and writing these blogs and I would hate it if no one ever read these posts.

My Hope #2 – Comment:  For each post, I will provide discussion questions. Respond to them and let me know what you think about the story. Be articulate. Don’t just say you disagree – say what you disagree with and back it up with a solid rationale. Keep it clean. Don’t swear or put down other students’ views.  It is a character and leadership site, so I will filter comments that are non-productive.

My Hope #3 – Be Inspired: I hope that these blogs will inspire you and that one or many of them will change the way you approach life.  I believe that students can be inspired and want to be inspired. People and stories can be the source of that inspiration.

My Hope #4 – Social Media: Using your own Twitter or Facebook pages, follow us on Twitter @CDandLeadership (use #CDandL) and/or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/characterandleadership. This will allow you to receive the posts as soon as they go live, not having to wait for class to read the posts. This will also allow you to receive these posts long after the students leave this classroom.

Your Turn:

1. Tell me what state you are from and the name of your school?
2. How do you think this program will help you in athletics and in life?