Rotarians start ‘First Knight’

By Jeff Walker
Features Editor

San Marcos July 29, 2008 11:26 am

— The Rotary Club of San Marcos recently approved the start of a character and ethics building program aimed at first through fifth graders in San Marcos.
The Early Act First Knight Program, which will be sponsored by the local Rotary Club beginning this August, passes on Rotary-like ideals to school children through 10-minute-a-day in-class curriculum and homework assignments. The program will be implemented at Crockett Elementary.
“One of our goals is to get the community more involved in our school district. This is a great way to do that,” San Marcos CISD Superintendent Patty Schafer, who was at the meeting, said.
Rotarian Alan Gill gave the program an initial boost by pledging $1,000 toward the $6,000 program. After the first year, the cost will drop to $5,000 a year.
With First Knight, daily instruction starts each day with a recitation of the Rotary Club’s Four-Way Test: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” Students may also achieve rankings such as “Page,” “Squire” and “Knight” through school-wide knighting ceremonies.
David Bandy, Rotary president, said that First Knight has seen great success in the Boerne School District since it was introduced last year. But he believes it could work anywhere.
“All kids everywhere are in desperate need of ethics training and learning right from wrong. That’s just based on the things you see in the news,” Bandy said. “This program was developed specifically to counter that and try to provide some character and ethics training: Teaching kids to do the right thing no matter what the consequences.”
The Rotary Club is also looking for a family to host a 17-year-old female exchange student from Thailand. The student, sponsored by Rotary International, will arrive in San Marcos in mid-August, and Bandy says the club needs a three-to-four-month commitment from someone in the community.
Anyone interested may contact Bandy at 754-6661.