"There was one little guy who had difficulties when he first got here, but after a while with CHARACTER COUNTS!, he was acting much better," says Fort Dix TAPS Linda Johnson. "His behavior was much better at CYS than at school or at home. Then his behavior started to improve in those other places too. We saw such heartening changes."

Buoyed by such experiences, the staff embeds the Six Pillars in programs whenever possible. Ms. Johnson emphasizes that CHARACTER COUNTS! is not an add-on, but becomes ingrained in regular activities. "CHARACTER COUNTS! is not something else we need to do. It's really not," she says. "All our programs — CHARACTER COUNTS!, 4-H, Boys & Girls Clubs — can all be combined so well."

Among the activities:

• Fourth and fifth graders have a "transition time" between CYS and the start of every school day. For the last 20-25 minutes, they focus on a specific CHARACTER COUNTS! activity. These activities usually stress one Pillar for one month. "It helps them in talking about how they are feeling, dealing with problems, respecting each other and their differences," says Ms. Johnson. "I've seen it do amazing things with that age category."
• Caregivers award "CC! Bucks" to kids who demonstrate the Six Pillars. The children spend this special money at the store.
• When kids do Deliberate Acts of Kindness, CYS recognizes them by posting their pictures on a bulletin board.

Fort Dix has four staff members trained in a Character Development Seminar at Princeton: a Training & Program Specialist (Ms. Johnson), a Training & Curriculum Specialist, a Program Lead for middle school/teen, and a Program Assistant for school-aged kids.