Despite the fact that both her parents were educators, Beth Hill swore she’d never teach. Now, she’s taken on a teaching role in both her full-time job and volunteer position: working for Kent County 4-H Youth Development and volunteering as a Character Counts Coach with Character Counts Kent County.
The Lancaster, Pennsylvania, native earned her BS in entomology and applied ecology at the University of Delaware, where she also met her husband, David. In 1992, she and David moved to his family’s farm in Kennedyville and Hill began working at the University of Maryland Extension as a nutrient management consultant. In 1996, she began working as the faculty extension assistant for 4-H Youth Development, and was promoted to the principal agent associate position in 2016.
In 2008, Hill began volunteering with Character Counts Kent County, a nonprofit organization that provides education programs to area schools and the community based on the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Though Hill can’t remember who initially got her involved with the organization, she says the similarities between the ideals of 4-H and Character Counts made it a natural fit for her.
How did you initially become involved with Character Counts?
The Character Counts program in Kent County was looking for coaches. So, I started [as a coach] in 2008 with first graders. First graders are fantastic. They suck up all the knowledge that you give them, they love you, they want to hold your hand. I kept getting more and more information from the Character Counts director about the challenges of middle school and the high school coaches. And I [thought], “I need more of a challenge in this.” So, I moved to the middle school two years later.
In your own words, what is Character Counts?
To me, it’s a way for kids to look at themselves. What kind of character do they have and [who] do they see in the mirror every day? What kind of person do they want to be and how do they go about getting there? The nice thing about Character Counts is it provides some very practical information on how kids can make themselves to be a better person: how to choose your friends, how to set goals for yourself, manners as basic as “please” and “thank you,” opening doors, smiling at folks, and kindness. All those things that are basic; basic fundamentals of character are part of this program. Little kids are that way already for the most part. Middle schoolers are looking to find themselves and I want them to find the best person they can be.
How do you teach these things to your students?
It depends on the class on how much they’re willing to participate. Sometimes you have classes that are much more open and others that don’t want to share as much. And you kind of go with that. You figure it out really early in the year, what kind of class they’re going to be, and then you sort of gauge your lessons based on that.
I focus on choices. Every day is full of choices. So, to me, it’s what do they choose in these situations? How do they choose to make themselves better? I try to do hands-on [activities]. For the physical fitness [lesson], I may bring in some hula hoops, or some type of ball, and we talk about lifelong sports, things that they can do, the sportsmanship around sports, and keeping physically fit for your life and staying healthy. I like to bring in props and I also like to tell personal stories. Because that makes you relatable as a coach, and I love to get them to tell stories because then it makes it real for them.
Why is the organization so important to you?
Because of the direction our society has taken, I think character development and character education is more important than it’s ever been. I feel it’s really important that somebody is talking to [kids] about character, how to be a good person, and how important it is to be a good person. You need those character traits to be a successful adult and to go into a career, whether it’s learning to show up on time for a job, or how to shake the hand of somebody when you go in for a job interview.
With the direction that our national conversation is going, as far as character, I think it’s important that we learn that bullying is not okay. Saying bad things about people is not okay. No matter what’s going on around you, you can be a better person than that. You have to live with who you are, and you can always change. There are always choices. We all make mistakes, but we can all make choices to make ourselves better the next time around, whatever that may be. What kind of person do you want to be? Because in the end, the only person that’s looking back at you in the mirror is yourself.
For more information on Character Counts Kent County, visit cckentmd.org.
