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.