Character Counts Foundations For Life Essay Contest Celebration

The CHARACTER COUNTS!SM Board in Montgomery County will host the 18th annual Foundations For Life Essay Contest on Feb. 9th, 2023, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Crawfordsville High School Commons.

A brief history of the program…

What is the Foundations for Life program? 

The Foundations for Life (FFL) program invites young people in grades 3-12 to reflect on quotations and express in their own words what their Foundations for Life are. The program enables the students to think about the values that will guide them for the rest of their lives, with the option of using a challenging and engaging composition activity that emphasizes a process approach to writing.  Foundations for Life is a maxim-based essay program that helps prepare students for crucial tests, improves their reasoning and writing skills, and inspires them to reflect upon, express, and commit to profound and enduring truths that will guide them in making ethical and effective choices throughout life.  The program encourages students in grades 3-12 to:

• Reflect – Students reflect on the meaning of selected quotations and apply their thoughts to better understand the world and their own lives.

• Express – Students express in their own words the underlying wisdom of the quotations.

• Commit – Students are encouraged to live more meaningful and effective lives by incorporating their new insights into a long-term life strategy.

Why is the program called Foundations for Life? 

The Foundations for Life are the core values by which we live. They guide us in our decisions. They make us who we are and define our character. These values can include the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. These Six Pillars transcend religions, politics, cultures, and national borders. But regardless of what labels we put on our values, we must discover what they mean to us personally, and we must live by them to benefit from them.