Third-graders learn keys to better life

River Park Hospital recently helped fund character building books for third-graders in the Warren County School System. The book, “Eight Keys to a Better Me,” lists and illustrates eight key traits which could influence children and lead to a better self-image, to better relationships with others, and to a better life.

The books are designed to help develop traditional values, such as honesty, respect, patriotism, among other values, which are a vital part of our American way of life. Mandy Blankenship, a third-grade teacher at Hickory Creek Elementary said her class loved the books.

“I gave them to my class as an incentive after TCAP testing,” Blankenship said. “I also used them in conjunction with the system-wide program, Love in the Real World. My students enjoyed using them along with stories, poems, tapes and assemblies here at school.”

In today’s society, young people are under attack from highly destructive forces which can impact their lives. Teachers and parents are aware of the devastating effect that drugs, child pornography and juvenile crime can have in creating a sense of diminished self-worth and low self-esteem.