Arizona State Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Horne is visiting one school for each location in Cochise County, Arizona. Horne, who oversees 1,800 schools in the state, visited CAS elementary and middle schools in September to reaffirm the correlation between high-performing schools and character education. Horne’s emphasis on academic rigor, coupled with CHARACTER COUNTS!, has increased accountability among schools, teachers and students, resulting in higher test scores.

Horne shared his thoughts on education with Iliana Gamez of the Daily Dispatch, stating, "Over the past four years … the Arizona average increased more than the national average among the Scholastic Aptitude Test and ACT results.” Horne feels students in Arizona are improving academically and stepping up to the challenge.

The new director of United Way of Martin County, FL, Holly Laiben, will continue to uphold the county’s strong commitment to CHARACTER COUNTS! after taking her position in September. In a recent press release, Laiben said, “I have always had a passion for CHARACTER COUNTS! and look forward to working with the program to build character, sportsmanship, and workplace ethics throughout our community.”

Laiben has been an employee of the Martin County School District for the past four years and previously worked for the Volunteer & Community Resource Center alongside the CHARACTER COUNTS! program at United Way of Martin County. Laiben was honored as the CC! Champion of the Community for her volunteer work and for sponsoring the annual Joe Kordick Youth Character Awards.

Departing as director is Terri May, who is leaving for a position at the Supervisor of Elections Office. Thanks in part to its strong leadership of the United Way of Martin County, CC! is in its eleventh year promoting character-building in schools and businesses throughout the region.

Students at Forest Hills Elementary and Don Peslis agree that character does count, especially on the sports field. Elementary school students throughout Anderson and Madison counties had the opportunity to hear from local university and high school students this spring during the ACS Elementary School Convocations of 2006. Several weeks on the road helped students think about the Six Pillars of Character and their importance in athletics, and share this message with younger students.

Interactive sessions encouraged group participation and gave youngsters time to reflect upon their personal behavior. After the convocation, participants selected trading cards made for each older student athlete, which, in addition to the usual name and photograph, added a description of the student’s character.

Helix Charter School decorated its scoreboard with the Pursuing Victory With Honor logo and a message that lets everyone know what really counts. The local television debut of "Thursday Night Football" featured leaders of the school's sportsmanship campaign.

An article in the national Ministry of Education magazine inspired three more schools to join the CC! efforts, spearheaded by Peace Corps volunteers in St. Lucia. New projects include A Tree of Character using the six traits in the designated colors, a park with Pillar rest areas, and a Pillar Play Park announcing “RESPONSIBILITY is key to all other growth in character leading to good citizens of the future.” Schools will use the sample proclamation to plan a district-wide media event for CC! Week in October.

"CHARACTER COUNTS! has been caught in St. Lucia," says Katie Zawacki, U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean island.

Principals, school counselors, teachers and students can identify all Six Pillars, including the Pillar color and the Character Carousel animal representing each trait. For the entire school year, Augier Combined Primary has been using CHARACTER COUNTS! language in assemblies, special events, daily classroom activities and as part of disciplinary actions.

The children are absorbing the character traits through the use of the language by everyone at the school and especially the use of the animals from the Character Carousel.

The year ended at this school with the dedication of a Character Garden, where all children recited the Kids for Character Pledge. The Augier Character Garden, which displays brightly painted pillars, became a main feature of an island-wide "Grounds Beautification" project that is part of the CC! program. The Pillars were designed, built and painted by Peace Corps Volunteers John & Katie Zawacki in partnership with the school principal.

All of the other primary schools in this southern education district of St. Lucia have received training in implementation and maintenance of CHARACTER COUNTS!. Using the approach of identifying desired behaviors, Katie has led the entire staff of each school in developing "unique" definitions for each character trait. The idea is for each school to develop their CHARACTER COUNTS! programs according to their needs using all their St. Lucian creativity.

When Katie completes her Peace Corps Volunteer service in March 2007, she expects CHARACTER COUNTS! in St. Lucia "will continue its growth and will be producing an abundance of good character."

But ideas, materials and resources are still in need, she says. "We work from having no supplies or materials provided by the Ministry of Education and many parents cannot contribute." To help with resources or by sharing ideas, contact Katie at papazawacki316@yahoo.com. Please identify your e-mail by mentioning "CHARACTER COUNTS!" in the subject line.