Ashley Martell
Pikeville Elementary
Pikeville, Kentucky

Ashley Martell is an 11-year-old student at Pikeville Elementary in Pikeville, KY. She participated in the MindOH! Foundation's 2002 Character's Cool Contest, and won an Athletes for a Better World Poster.

The Character's Cool Contest was a national contest for middle school students to help stop school violence and encourage the practice of ethical behavior. Participants completed an online survey about their experiences in the aftermath of Sept 11th, bullying and school violence and the ethical behavior and character qualities needed to reduce school violence.

The first emotion Ashley felt after learning about the Sept 11th attacks was "that we were all going to get attacked, not just the important places, because Osama Bin Laden said it." Both her parents and school talked to Amy about the events. Ashley says she does not think students in her school are being treated differently now because of the attacks, but she has witnesses someone being bulled at school before.

Pikeville Elementary takes measures to prevent bullying and violence by punishing the student, Ashley said. Then the counselor asks the student if he or she would like to talk about what happened and why it was wrong. The counselor asks the person the situation and why the person did what he or she did.

Ashley thinks it's important for young people to learn how to manage their anger and resolve conflicts peacefully, and to be respectful of others, even when you disagree.

She names Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Courage, Cooperation, Tolerance, Love, Patience and Self Control as the character qualities she thinks people need to have to reduce violence.

At her school, character qualities are taught by the school counselor, who talks to ALL of the students. Her school also has a program called "second step" where students learn control in situations where they feel like raising their hand in anger when they really don't have to. Ashley says she practices these qualities in the following way. "When I try to think of these qualities, I try to treat people the way I want to be treated."