Park View Intermediate School is partnering with the Houston Texans Foundation to provide the “Heart of a Champion” Character Development Program to students.

The “Heart of a Champion” program provides classroom resources such as real-life video and printed stories to present the subject matter to the students in sixth grade and up. Class and individual exercises help students to apply nine traits (commitment, leadership, perseverance, teamwork, respect, integrity, responsibility, self-control and compassion) to their own lives. Stories on the Texans are integrated into the materials for every trait.

"I have been very impressed with Heart of a Champion because it provides a visual for students to experience different stories from people that are leaders and who have overcame obstacles to fulfill their dreams,” said Rob Hasson, principal of Park View Intermediate School. “The activities in the reading materials provide my students with enrichment activities, while introducing them to thought-provoking scenarios.  I would strongly recommend this program to other schools as it provides a guided foundation for leadership and success."

Park View was provided the “Heart of a Champion” curriculum as part of a matching grant from the Houston Texans and the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation. As part of the initiative, Park View has received $18,000 in classroom materials through the program to incorporate character education to students.

Hasson said lessons from the program are being incorporated into Park View’s Teen Leadership, Career Investigation and Language Arts classes.

“We are particularly excited about this program, because the curriculum provides real-world examples of meaningful relationships, which is one of the center components of our district theme of 'rigor and relevance' in our classrooms,” he said. 

Heart of a Champion, a Texas non-profit group, is based in Dallas, and provides character education materials to youth across the country. The group has developed program partnerships with organizations such as the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Oklahoma City sports franchises for their particular regions.