THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702220047
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 54 lines
WAKING UP to a world of options is the best possible way to greet the day for Hal Urban, teacher, author and nationally known advocate for character education.
``From the time we wake up in the morning until we go to bed at night, we're making choices,'' Urban writes. ``If we're not, someone or something else is making them for us.''
After 10 years as a single parent raising three sons and 30 years as a secondary school teacher, Urban still clearly loves kids. But he also understands that they need help to flourish in an increasingly complex society beset by a breakdown in traditional values.
On Monday evening, Urban will speak at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, sharing his ideas on practical ways to integrate character education into classrooms and homes.
Like many schools, the academy is taking a long look at the place of character education in the academic curriculum. Urban is the second speaker in the academy series ``Exploring Moral Issues - A Community Responsiblity.'' The program is designed to focus both students and adults on values and character development within the school and the community.
Everyone is capable of making great strides in self-development and achievement, Urban says, but the starting point of that success lies in becoming aware of our choices and making the right ones.
Urban's philosophy on choices comes directly from his book ``20 Things I Want My Kids to Know: Passing on Life's Greatest Lessons'' and is integral to his view that humans are free to choose the type of people they will become.
``Young people today are faced with far more choices, many of them destructive,'' he said, adding that at the same time society is barraging them with conflicting messages about which choices are really the best.
Urban, 55 (and claiming the energy and enthusiasm of two 25-year-olds), is a former marathon runner and an admitted physical fitness nut. His appearance in Tidewater is just one stop on a 1997 itinerary that takes him from his home in California to a score of presentations across the country and as far away as Beijing, China.
``This is an unusual opportunity for us to host a nationally known speaker,'' said Nancy Russell, headmaster of the academy's lower school. ``The meeting is open to the public and we encourage people to bring grandparents, neighbors, or anyone who is interested.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
WANT TO GO?
Who: Author Hal Urban
When: Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Nansemond-Suffolk Academy cafetorium, 3373 Pruden Blvd.,
Suffolk
Free, open to public.
Call: 539-8789