Congratulations to Indian Land Middle School

There's plenty of evidence that great things happen in South Carolina's public schools; it's our responsibility to bear witness and tell those stories. Today, Indian Land Middle School is an example. ILMS is one of 10 schools nationwide being recognized for its character-building program by the Red Robin Foundation.

And talk about a good community partner for public schools: the Red Robin restaurant chain has been recognizing schools this way for the past five years.

But Indian Land Middle School is no stranger to praise; for two years in a row, ILMS has been named a State School of Character by the state Department of Education -- the only middle school in South Carolina to collect this honor.

Here's the note from the Lancaster News:

Indian Land Middle School is one of 10 schools in the country honored as a 2011 U-ACT School by the Red Robin Foundation. The acronym “U-ACT” stands for “Unbridled Acts,” or random acts of kindness. Red Robin’s U-ACT program recognizes schools that demonstrate a commitment to promoting kindness and is dedicated to character-building in grades six through eight.

The honor of being designated a U-ACT Merit School entitles ILMS to a $1,200 grant and $250 for a party to reward students.

ILMS Principal David McDonald said the program reinforces the school’s motto: “What happens here will change the world.”

“Our school is not perfect, and that is exactly why it is important to have a focus on character-building efforts,” he said. “The support from the Red Robin Foundation has allowed us to ‘kick it up a notch’ and continue to provide creative ways to model, teach and expect positive character traits.

“We are so pleased to be recognized as one of the top 10 schools in the nation for our commitment to providing a program that helps us teach kindness toward others,” he said.

The U-ACT winning schools were selected based on the unique programs they implemented throughout the school year to reward students for their kind acts and the community service projects they implemented to make a difference in their communities, a Red Robin Foundation release said.

Among the programs implemented by ILMS that helped earn them this recognition were the Champions of Character Program, Character Counts Week, A-OK Week and Pasta for Pennies.