How National Heritage Academies® Builds Student Character: Four Examples

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- National Heritage Academies® (NHA®) believes character development is an essential part of students' education to help them understand the importance of making good choices. Just ask Elijah Martin and his mother.

"I'm thinking before I do things," said Elijah, a sixth-grade student at Pembroke Academy in Detroit.

Elijah's been at Pembroke for two years, and his mother says she's noticed a difference.

"I see it when he responds to his younger cousins," Kimberly Martin said. Elijah may "show how they need to control themselves or how they need to use compassion or even just encouraging them."

Pembroke, an NHA® partner-school, uses the organization's Moral Focus™ program to help students like Elijah build a foundation for their character. Kids learn crucial life virtues such as self-control, compassion, and perseverance.

Moral Focus is geared to benefit every student at every age.

"Our lessons are designed to meet them where they are," said Morgan Faasse, NHA's Moral Focus Team Lead.

Over 15,000 parents completed NHA's Voice of the Parent satisfaction survey this past spring. Four out of every five parents said they agreed or strongly agreed that Moral Focus has had a positive impact on their child. Kimberly Martin is one of them.

"When we toured the school and I saw the Moral Focus posters on the wall, I thought, 'This is great!'," Kimberly Martin said. "I'm happy it's something they teach on a regular basis and the kids can continually learn about their behavior and things to work on. It's helped (Elijah) to grow as a person."

Elijah Martin is hardly the only example of how NHA's focus on character shapes students. During the 2025-26 school year's Moral Focus Contest, students described how those virtues are reflected in the choices they make. Hundreds of art and writing pieces were submitted, including these three poems from Michigan students:

• Ashley, a fifth-grade student also from Detroit, wrote: "Encourage me to become the plant that grows into a tree. Encourage me to soar to my deepest dreams."
• Camila, a seventh-grader from Grand Rapids, gave her poem the title "The Weight of Standing Straight." Integrity "is doing the right thing without witnesses, without forgiveness, without the comfort of being understood," she wrote.
• Day'Moni, an eighth-grade student from Flint, wrote: "When the silence is loud and the crowd disappears, what you stood for then will echo louder than cheers."

Moral Focus is research-based and designed to follow the natural progression of student learning. Each month's lessons are mapped out to first show students a definition, second, give them real-world examples, third, reflect on how they want to use the virtue, and fourth, have students put what they learned into action.

The program highlights one virtue each month of the school year, and each virtue builds on each other from September through May. By the end of the year, students have practiced nine virtues that help them make good choices at school, at home, and in their community.

"Even the month each virtue is attached to is intentional," Faasse said. "Self-Control is our virtue for December. Students know a break is coming and their schedules are going to change. It is the perfect time to learn about self-control, and practice being mindful and managing emotions."

Classrooms dedicate time to Moral Focus three days each week, and virtues are woven into every part of the school day. Teachers connect that month's virtue to what students are reading, discussing, and experiencing.

That's how a lesson on compassion becomes something Elijah can carry home to his younger cousins. Faasse said that's exactly how the program is meant to work.

"The more they practice these virtues, the more it can become a part of who they are," Faasse said. "Our Moral Focus program helps our students become confident, conscientious, and compassionate in and outside of school walls."

About National Heritage Academies:
National Heritage Academies® (NHA®) is a network of 105 tuition-free, public charter schools across nine states, serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12^th grade. For more information, visit nhaschools.com. To find the nearest charter school near you, use the NHA school finder.

SOURCE National Heritage Academies