J'miah Nabawi didn't just sit on the floor and tell the African folk tales to the group of Centennial Elementary School second-graders.

He led the group of giggling, smiling students in singing, dancing and other expressive ways.

He also delivered an important message.

"Sometimes in life you're going to have a rough day," said Nabawi, who lives in Savannah. "... If you're feeling something inside, let someone else know and express yourself."

Nabawi's visits to the school last week were part of Centennial's ongoing Character Through the Arts program, which, as the name suggests, strives to fuse virtues and values with artistic presentations.

Centennial was one of eight schools statewide, also including Gainesville High and Gainesville Middle, that last year were awarded an overall $1.7 million, four-year grant through a federal program that promotes character education.

Centennial has been busy spending its $180,000 piece of that pie.

This year, among other things, the school has brought in an artist who helped fifth-graders draw murals throughout the school and bought sashes for student "safety patrols," and is working with a sculptor on helping second-graders design and create reliefs.

Every teacher received $360 to spend for supplies they could use "to teach more artfully," said Millie Corder, Centennial's math teacher and Character Through the Arts coordinator.

The school also has hired an Atlanta company, Creating Pride, to help with "Art Hour." Each week, from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., teachers use art-inspired methods to teach the curriculum.

"It's not just put your pencils down, we're going to draw," Corder said.

First-graders studying money have made pink piggybanks. Third-graders have held "poetry parties." They recite poems they've dug out and, later, poems they've written themselves.

Corder said she believes the arts program is "so important for our children."

"At Centennial, we say that everybody is somebody. We want the children to feel like they have ownership ... of what they do and the school," she said.

Nabawi explored that theme of self-confidence in his presentation.

"No matter if someone tries to make you feel small, you can know that there is something inside of you that is greatness," he said.

Some of the character traits the school is promoting are kindness, courage, teamwork and friendship. The school has a bulletin board that reads "Building character through the arts promotes lifelong success."

"We want children to love learning and become lifelong learners," Corder said.

Second-grade teacher Becky Hollingsworth said presentations, such as the one by Nabawi, "show the children there is more than one way to show you are smart and more than one way to express yourself."

"We're all alike. Even if we all don't speak the same language, there are ways we can express ourselves and understand each other."

Corder said the children's excitement about learning extend beyond the school grounds.

"Parents tell us they see a carryover," she said. "And when you hear those kinds of things, we feel like we've done something."