This Washington, D.C. suburb hosted the 1999 CC! national convention. Earlier, it had quickly become a CHARACTER COUNTS! leader after local educators discovered the program in 1995. This was due in no small part to the commitment of the city’s late mayor, Edward Bohrer, Jr. By February, 1996, the city had passed a resolution declaring Gaithersburg a CHARACTER COUNTS! community.
Over the ensuing months trainers introduced CHARACTER COUNTS! into the curricula of 21 public schools. The new program became part of various city and community programs and special events including the Olde Town Festival, Festival of Many Cultures, City Recreation Camps activities and Teen Center activities. The mayor even decreed that "the City of Gaithersburg logo will not appear without the CHARACTER COUNTS! logo alongside."
By October, 1996, Gaithersburg had become a partner in the national Coalition. The business community had started sponsoring character education projects and the religious community agreed to stress character development using the language of shared values. Gaithersburg celebrated national CHARACTER COUNTS! Week with a city-wide "graffiti paint-out" and a poster contest at the mall. The city revised its "vision statement" to read: "In the 21st century, Gaithersburg will be a city that lives by the Six Pillars of CHARACTER COUNTS! (trustworthiness, responsibility, caring, respect, citizenship and fairness)." It also updated its mission statement, adding: "We are a CHARACTER COUNTS! city that serves as a catalyst for the involvement of residents, business and organizations to ensure that Gaithersburg is a great place to live, work and play." And its "guiding principles" now affirm: "We are guided by the Six Pillars of CHARACTER COUNTS!."
"What we did and the scale on which we did it has had a powerful impact even far beyond our city borders," says Linda Morganstein, the director of Human Services for the City of Gaithersburg. She predicts that all schools in Maryland will soon have character education programs. "This is the most important thing I have ever done in a job," she says, and adds that after more than four years of practicing the Six Pillars, the city remains firmly behind her effort. "The current mayor of Gaithersburg, Sidney Katz, and councilmembers are still fully supportive of the CHARACTER COUNTS! program," she recently said. "All city staff have had their second round of ethics training, and new staff continue to be trained in the program as they come aboard."
