Communication. Innovation. Collaboration. Responsibility. Perseverance. These five traits are what the new initiative, Profile of a Bulldog, highlights as the most important traits to succeed in life after high school.

Profile of a Bulldog was developed by a committee that consists of teachers, parents, administration and one student. This committee met three times over a six-week period to develop the idea further.

The idea was originally adapted from EdLeader21’s campaign “Profile of a Graduate.” The committee took the basis of this initiative to adapt it to the school district.

According to the handout distributed at the school board meeting on Nov. 7, the Profile of a Bulldog is “the skills and attributes a Freedom Area School District graduate will need in order to make a successful transition into post-high school life.” The initiative consisted of five total traits and attributes.

Before coming up with a final list of important skills and attributes, each member of the committee was tasked with creating what they felt was most important for graduates to have in the real world. After that, they were able to narrow the list down to what they felt were the five most important skills for students moving on to postgraduate plans.

The five skills the Profile of a Bulldog details are communication, innovation, collaboration, responsibility and perseverance. Each trait was explained in the handout given at the meeting.

“I would probably say communication [is the most important trait]. We live in a world where it’s easy to forgo direct communication, even though it’s a skill that all adults, no matter their professional field, will need to survive and succeed,” Ms. Blaire Lasko said. Lasko represented one of the teachers on the committee responsible for developing this initiative.

This two-month long development will be used to make future programs and classes, using the five attributes listed as a goal for graduates to possess after they leave Freedom Area School District.

“Now that we’ve identified what that list of skills is, we’ll then use that to guide developing professional development programs, new courses or when we’re revising curriculum for those courses, so that we can ensure that as students work their way through the Freedom Area School district, kindergarten through 12th grade, and we’re doing the things necessary to develop those skills,” Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller said of the purpose of this initiative.

In order to visually encompass the goals of the Profile of a Bulldog, the idea of a graphic featuring a graduation cap with the five attributes written in a ring around it was developed by the committee and created by Mr. Aaron Fitzpatrick. Front and center on the graphic is communication. Fuller mentions that the graduation cap represents the ultimate school goal: becoming a Freedom graduate.

With the beginning of the plan in place, the district would move to a more comprehensive plan that would guide the district through the next five years.