Who we are
My name is Debra Tiffany, M.Ed, an educator and parent. In 2011, I followed my dream of joining the Peace Corps and set out for Colombia to teach English for the next two indescribable years, and out of it, CHARACTEROPOLIS was born! It is a Story-Based/Teacher Character Development Guide/COLORING BOOK Program that came to life with the discovery of my passion for Character Education. I wrote the first book as an example for Student Teachers and could not stop there! It is now a growing collection with many more in the works. Over many years of teaching a wide range of grades, subjects, and student populations, I realized my profound desire to help children, teachers, and parents by creating comprehensive resources told through inspiring children’s stories. I strive to reach young children by providing them with educational tools to learn and practice the Core Values that generations have successfully operated with through the ages. So grab a story and let your Character Journey begin!
The Story of CHARACTEROPOLIS
Ms. Evans had been an elementary teacher for many years when she noticed a change in her students. She decided it was what she wasn’t hearing anymore, the please and thank yous, the kind voices and words, and the neighborly concern for others at times…but only at times. She could still sense it but felt it missing more often than not lately.
With that, she stuffed her trusty backpack and left to find those tried and true core values that once occupied her classroom 24/7! Ms. Evans was determined to seek them out and learn how to duplicate her dependable old friends in her classroom again. She felt it was important for all children to have the opportunity to grow up with the same set of character skills and tools she did as a young girl.
Country after country and countless school visits later, Ms. Evans began to notice that same feeling she had in her classroom back home. She decided the next logical step was to find a corner cafe to think through this gnawing dilemma and devise a plan. While she quietly sipped her tea, she watched the local buses whoosh by, picking up and dropping off passengers, with everyone smiling and thanking the driver as they left. AHA, that’s it! If she could create a “place” where people came and went, accessible to everyone, and left with that peaceful sense of integrity and gratitude, she will have brought the core values back to life. This was her new goal in life, and she planned to meet it with gusto!
She returned home and passionately began to formulate ideas, draw up plans, erase and redraw, and before long CHARACTEROPOLIS materialized right out of her imagination and onto the paper! She figured in this now hybrid world we live in, half-live/half-virtual, her newborn “school” could exist everywhere, and the core values could ultimately make their way into the hearts of children the world over.
So Ms. Evans brought those traditional core values back together under one universal roof, and began to share them through tender children’s stories and lesson plans, with the hope that they would again touch the lives of our young, and live out through their words, actions, and loving attitudes.