Shepherds College Character Trait #4: Integrity

Definition of Integrity – Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code

In the definition above, integrity calls for “steadfast adherence.”  The working Shepherds College definition of Integrity is “knowing and doing what is right all the time.”

Integrity is one of those character traits that you either have or you don’t. You can’t have a little.

~If you give in and lie, even if only to a bill collector, you don’t have integrity. 

~If your husband asks you not to touch his chocolate-covered peanut clusters and you sneak four of them, you don’t have integrity.

~If you’re counting calories, but omit those in the bowl of guacamole you ate exactly at midnight because you couldn’t decide whether to put them on today’s tally or tomorrow’s, then you don’t have integrity.

As the Bible says, “One who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”

Ouch! Integrity cannot be compromised – ever. If you compromise integrity, you simply don’t have it.

Integrity is not something you’re born with, and it’s not something that naturally develops as you age. It actually goes against our nature as sinful beings. You build integrity in one way -

To borrow a quote from an unknown source, “Integrity results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.”

In order to relentlessly pursue the building of integrity in our students, the staff at Shepherds College holds them accountable for what they say and what they do. 

·         Dishonesty is addressed immediately.

·         Borrowing first requires permission from the owner.

·         Students do their own work.  Cheating is not tolerated.

·         Students always need to source where their information came from on projects and reports. Give credit where credit is due.

·         Students practice Conflict Resolution steps to avoid the over-exaggerated “he said, she said” arguments. This helps them focus on the facts only.

·         Teachers ask the students to give honest feedback to other students when giving constructive criticism using the THINK acrostic. Before talking, they first ask themselves if their words are:

True
Helpful
Inspiring
Necessary
Kind

Mrs. Kolkman and her THINK acrostic

·         Chef McCarthy has two acrostics of his own that he insists his students follow to develop their understanding of accountability and integrity:

Help
Others
Thrive

And

                      be Considerate of others
   always let God Order your steps
          never stop Learning
                      be Determined to never give up

Integrity is so important in the workplace and in life. A person of integrity will be respected and trusted. They will be given more responsibility and cultivate stronger relationships. They can walk through each day with a clear conscience, without guilt. It sounds like a great way to live a life of Appropriate Independence.

Now excuse me. I have a confession to make to my husband.

 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Friday's Top Five: The Hunt is On!

The faculty and staff at Shepherds College like to use scavenger hunts as a teaching tool. Not only are they fun for the students, but they teach important skills in the process of following the clues to the desired goal.

Students learn to follow directions. They problem solve using analytic and reasoning skills. They learn important facts about the subject matter.

Communication skills are developed and relationships are built as students work through the information together.

I asked the staff how scavenger hunts have been used at Shepherds College and received some innovative answers:

1.      “We did a scavenger hunt for an orientation activity to help the students learn their way around campus. The clues were about rooms or places on the grounds that would be a part of their college schedule: the gym, the picnic area, classrooms, the greenhouse, Clark apartments, the nurse’s station, the office…”

The Clark Apartments

2.      “In Culinary Arts, we do a scavenger hunt in the kitchen to find certain utensils and hand tools.”

3.      “In New Testament Letters, students did a scavenger hunt to find the location, author and recipients of the books of Hebrews, Romans, Galatians, Colossians and Ephesians. We also did one on Paul’s journeys!”

4.      “The first and second-year students go on a field trip to Petrifying Springs for a scavenger hunt. They are given a list of things to find in nature.”

5.      “I did a picture scavenger hunt in Health class. We were talking about privacy and I split my first-year girls up into two teams. ‘The Private I’s’ had to take pictures of ten places that were considered private. ‘The rePublic’ had to take ten pictures of public places. Both groups reconvened and made posters of their findings to present to the class. They came up with the team names themselves!”

Private Locker Rooms

Public Parking Lot

Scavenger hunts sound like so much fun that I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be entertaining to end the week with a scavenger hunt just for our readers?’ Why not, right?

So here goes! The very first Shepherds College blog scavenger hunt.

We probably need some rules:

Follow the clues below through the blog site. The first person to post the correct response in the Comments section gets an amazing gift – for humoring me by playing along. I won’t allow the comments to post until Monday so no one can see the answers before they're ready. I will notify the scavenger hunt champion of their victory – also in the Comments section – and request contact information via email at that time to send the gift. This hunt is open to anyone reading this blog, even Shepherds College staff, since I’m the only one who knows the answer.

And now for the amazing gift – Ask anyone who knows me what I keep on my filing cabinet in back of my desk and they’ll answer “Seroogy’s.” For those of you who think I just named one of the characters from Fraggle Rock, Seroogy’s is only the best gourmet chocolate shop in the state of Wisconsin. I have a variety pack of Seroogy’s candy bars for the victor of the hunt.

I think I covered everything, so here goes:

A teacher is carrying a tune.

Can you hear it?

Listen to the love of a student for his teaching

this product of the Spirit.

With this clue in mind,

find the blog where it grows.

Dig under the roots

until you reach the pit of the prose.

Feeling keen with your new insight?

Head to the blog

that links to this delight.

You’re showing strength of character.

You’ve almost completed the task.

Now click the correct link

and answer the question that I ask!

You’ve made an investment

of your time in this game.

Just head to the quote

that speaks of the same.

What are the last three words to the quote?

Let the hunt begin!

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Their Time to Shine

My school years were just plain awful.

I was the girl who was so painfully shy that I could physically make myself disappear in a classroom full of people. I hunched, I shrunk, I blended, I whispered, I blanked all expression from my face, and I actually became… nothing.

For the most part, people didn’t look at me or see me, and on those rare occasions when they did, I could detect a hint of mild interest or curiosity in their eyes, like I was a sweater someone left draped over a desk chair and they wondered why I was forgotten. But then, the interest would quickly fade – it’s only an old sweater – and the look in their eyes said, “She’s inconsequential.”

Sometimes I can see this – for lack of a better word – talent for becoming nothing in the body language of some of the 1^st year students when they arrive on campus in August. I know that they too have silently been told by society that they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

I want to take them by the shoulders, look right into their eyes and urgently say, “In the three years you’re at Shepherds College, you’ll learn that you do matter. You’ll learn that your life has purpose and meaning. You’ll find where you fit in this world and you will LOVE who God created you to be.”

In my little corner of Shepherds College, I get to witness this transition, and even take part in it in some small way. The best part of my job in Marketing is taking the words, the faces, the stories of these beautiful people and putting them out there for the rest of the world to see.

There’s something spiritual about the transformation that overcomes a student in that moment when they stop feeling irrelevant and realize that they are seen and heard and recognized as significant.

Sometimes all it takes is a camera held in front of them and a gentle question, "May I take your picture?”  I sense hesitancy, then hear, “Are you going to put me on Facebook?” At my nod, they stand straighter and smile as I snap the shutter release. They turn to their new friends and say with a confidence I’ve not yet heard from them, “I’m going to be on Facebook.” They look several inches taller as they walk away.

I’ve witnessed wonder blossom on closed-off faces as students recognize themselves on national magazine covers or featured in articles. One girl asked, “Are people actually going to read about me?” She couldn't believe her life story had value.

Recently Tess, Dallas and Christian were interviewed about their experience at the college on the local Racine & Me program, airing this Saturday. I had the opportunity to watch the DVD of the show after the taping. These students showed themselves to be self-assured young adults who represented the college with dignity and poise. They used their voices to be heard and to make an impact on their community! 

After the interview, Tess walked up to my desk and, in all sincerity, asked if I would like her autograph.  I cherish that moment! Tess knew that she was somebody important, and she had attributed worth to her being. I had her autograph the DVD and then she left my desk to autograph my co-worker’s notepaper.

I am so excited to see what all our students do once they are trained for life, empowered to serve and filled with new purpose!  

When these concepts become realities and begin to change the character of the student, they lose the “I am nothing” lies the world has fed them and fairly shine with the confidence of knowing that they are children of the Most High God, created by Him with the ability to influence the lives of people around them.

 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

The Office: The Paperwork Trial

I want to test something for a second. Keep reading…

Medicaid - The Medicaid program is jointly funded by the federal government and states. The federal government pays states for a specified percentage of program expenditures, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). FMAP varies by state based on criteria such as per capita income. The regular average state FMAP is 57%, but ranges from 50% in wealthier states up to 75% in states with lower per capita incomes (the maximum regular FMAP is 82 %). FMAPs are adjusted for each state on a three-year cycle to account for fluctuations in the economy. The FMAP is published annually in the Federal Register. 

Are you still with me?

I thought you might stop reading once you reached a percentage sign. I personally checked out at the first FMAP and just kept mindlessly typing. I’m sorry for any spelling errors beyond that point, but the gnat hovering over my coffee cup suddenly became very interesting.

It takes a special kind of person to deal with this stuff every day – someone intelligent, clear-thinking, organized and patient. This special person at Shepherds is Linda Manlick in the Business Office.

Linda not only handles Medicaid for the college students, she also deals with Social Security issues and medical billing. If you have questions about any of these matters, call her and she’ll explain what needs to be done in plain English. I feel fairly confident in saying that you’ll be able to understand the entire conversation.

Not only does Linda do an excellent job with all this difficult governmental paperwork, she also does something I can actually understand – she buys all the Woodman’s gift cards for the students! 

Linda deals directly with the Woodman’s Corporate Office in Madison to buy gift cards in bulk so we can get discounts to pass on to the students and their families. The Culinary Arts department uses these gift cards to purchase all their food supplies for their lessons each week, and the students use them on their weekly grocery shopping trips to purchase the food needed to make their breakfasts and dinners.

I wanted to highlight Linda in The Office today for two reasons: One - because even though what she does is difficult for me to write about, it’s important stuff and she will make it easy for you to grasp. 

And two – It’s her 66^th birthday today and her co-workers love her to pieces. 

She’s funny and generous and kind. She’s plain-spoken and truthful, yet sensitive. She’s a careful listener and gives sound advice.

If you need someone like that to answer your hard-to-comprehend Medicaid or Social Security questions, give Linda a call at 262-878-5620 ext. 2318.

Or just call her to say, “Happy Birthday Linda!!”
 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.