CONTACT
For all inquiries, please e-mail us at:
info@character-reference.com
ABOUT
Character Reference (characer-reference.com) was created and executed by me, Johnny Levy.
I came into contact with Character First, a powerful character education program, around eight years ago. I participated in a teacher's "in-service" day of Character First training when I was a teacher at an alternative high school. I instantly fell in love with the principles underlying the Character First curriculum. After completing the training, I used the character definitions, DIBS, and other character tools in my classroom, and had countless positive and moving experiences with my students.
I have since moved out of teaching, but the passion for character has remained with me. I still use the concepts I learned in character training in making business decisions, writing references, and pointing out positive traits in my co-workers.
I have a passion for using the specific definitions of character I learned from Character First to encourage, recognize, and affirm those around me. I see people who are starving for something more than empty, general praise for a “job well done.” People are hungry to be noticed, understood, and honestly recognized for their strengths, according to tangible, credible criteria.
I would say that people don’t even know they are hungry for this kind of affirmation until they receive it. Case in point: A colleague of mine was leaving her company and asked me to write her a reference. I had had limited contact with her, but enough to recognize some of her character strengths. I sat down to write her reference, and immediately referred to the 49 character traits, chose the three character traits that seemed most applicable, and proceeded to write her a reference in which I defined each character trait, how the character trait related to her, and specific examples of her performance which exemplified each character trait. The response was remarkable. She stated that, for her, the reference I wrote had set the standard for recommendations against which all recommendations would now be judged.
Over the years, I have written several references using the character traits. People’s responses have generally been similar to the one above. They are overjoyed at having been noticed … really noticed … for their special, unique contributions to the world – for who they are!
This site is an attempt to give this gift to others to wield and experience for themselves.
A character reference is pure gold to the recipient, and pure joy for the giver. Try it and see!
