Joseph Melillo Middle School has used CC! for the past eight years, and according to principal John Petonito, "The main thing is that kids come to recognize that this is the standard and we are not going to lower expectations. To us that is very important, especially in dealing with adolescents who are maturing and developing."

Some of the effects are clear. For instance, by December of the 2004-5 school year, the student council has gathered 2,400 cans of food and over 800 boxes of bran and muffin mix for the East Haven Food Bank. In addition, students raised over $300 for the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund and $260 for the March of Dimes.

Last year students used a penny war to raise $6,000 to fight leukemia, and the year before they raised $7,000.

"It is plain and simple. It is about teaching kids to be fair. It serves as a model, not only in school, but how we hope they will live their lives," Mr. Petonito said in a Shore Publishing periodical.

The school recognizes one student per grade level each month for conduct and scholastic achievement, and selects 50 to 60 students every month as Team Achievers. "I have had some kids who are in high school come back and tell me that they still have their certificates," said Petonito.

Pillar posters abound in the school, and the school stresses a different Pillar each month. It also holds an annual assembly on the Pillars, and in 2004-5 it planned an anti-violence assembly as well.