"In everything we do, CHARACTER COUNTS! is the foundation," says CYS coordinator Sheila Curtis. "We don't see it as a separate program, but an integral part of everything we do here."

CHARACTER COUNTS! began at Fort Hood in February 1998. "It started out small and has just grown from there," says Miriam Walker, Comanche Youth Center manager. Today it is one of the most active programs on any post, and has at least four CDS graduates.

The Six Pillars of Character form the norms or rules of all Fort Hood CYS projects. They are an integral part of the behavior management plan.

"Our goal is not only to offer activities and programs that are fun and exciting for the kids, but we also want the activities to have purpose and challenge the kids to examine their belief system," observes Ms. Curtis. "Our purpose is to entertain them and make them responsible, effective citizens of their homes and communities."

The Fort Hood CYS recently gained responsibility for sports, and is now integrating Pursuing Victory With Honor (PVWH) into its training of coaches. Previously, CYS had oversight of less formal contests, including pickup basketball games and midnight basketball, and all participants had to complete a PVWH class. The older kids helped teach the younger ones.

Fort Hood has integrated CHARACTER COUNTS! so seamlessly into its activities that caregivers find it hard to distinguish one pursuit from another as clearly "CC!." However, among the ongoing activities:

• Fort Hood kids mentor peers, volunteer in nursing homes, take part in conservation projects, hold food drives, and participate in the Fort's annual Make a Difference Day.
• More than 50 youths volunteer to work in a soup kitchen once a month.
• The Bronco Youth Center has hosted the Youth Fun, Fitness, Sports and Character Education Day. "We planned sports, games and crafts to teach the Six Pillars of Character," says Ms. Walker.
• When children at the Fort Hood Child Development Center have disputes, they go to the Respect Table. There, seated beneath CHARACTER COUNTS! principles, they work with adults to resolve their differences with teamwork and respect.
• CYS cosponsors an overnight camp focusing on CHARACTER COUNTS!, with typically over 70 students attending and more than 40 adult volunteers.
• Teens take part in most of these activities. They receive CHARACTER COUNTS! training and mentor younger kids in the programs.

CYS services nationwide use programs from the Boys & Girls Club curriculum - Passport to Manhood, Smart Girl, Teen Supreme and Torch Club - but Fort Hood has integrated CHARACTER COUNTS! into all of them. Caregivers say integration is easy, since CHARACTER COUNTS! meshes so well with them.

Ms. Curtis says that early on, when some staff members showed resistance to CHARACTER COUNTS!, she simply waited till these people saw how well it was working. The resistance ended.