Tonalea Elementary is one of 20 elementary schools in the Scottsdale Unified School District. The past 3 years Tonalea students, staff, parents and community members have made extraordinary efforts to promote character on campus. 2 years ago Tonalea was fortunate to receive the Artist in Residence program on campus. Through the Artist in Residence program all 600 Tonalea students, levels K-6, participated in the painting of 2 murals on the walls of the school. The murals were created and drawn in a prime location where all that visit, work, or attend Tonalea can remember to always show good character!

In Hoopeston, Illinois, a group of fourth-graders have set up shop. It's true: ethics can't be bought or sold, but in this case character and commerce go hand in hand. As part of their CHARACTER COUNTS! program, students at Honeywell Elementary School are focusing on the Pillar of citizenship and are managing a "Christmas store" on campus that raises money for the school and needy families in the community.

The Commercial-News, a local newspaper, profiled the project in an article headlined "Students Enjoy Doing Good for Others: Class Promotes Citizenship." Here's an excerpt:

...Janet Crouch’s class at Honeywell Elementary School does a number of things to better Honeywell, and the values they learn doing community service spill over into their home lives....

The students say they enjoy doing good deeds for other people. They say the values they develop now will serve them for life.

“If we care now at this age, we’ll do it when we’re older,” Hurt said.

The Christmas store proceeds also serve the community by helping pay for Christmas baskets for the needy in Hoopeston.

Kelly Walder said she feels good when their hard work at the store pays off.

...The children said the best reward is knowing they’re doing something to help others — even when they don’t get anything in return.

Read the complete Commercial-News article and see a photo of these special kids here.

Juana Reynard, a CHARACTER COUNTS! organizer in Audubon, Iowa, sent this photo of a Christmas tree local 4-H groups displayed at a recent fundraiser. The CC! tree is now bringing good cheer to a school in the area.

The tree elicited many positive comments, said Ms. Reynard. She especially enjoyed seeing children recognize the ornaments and hearing them exclaim, "We have CHARACTER COUNTS! at our school!"

The Parent Association at the American Institute of Monterrey understands that successful character building is a T.E.A.M. (Teach Enforce Advocate Model) effort.

The parents have created a school-for-parents program offering courses such as Introduction to CC!, Decision Making, Self-Esteem, and additional courses throughout the year. An impressive 400 parents have taken the five-hour Introduction to Character Counts! Course.

Additionally, 200 mothers are involved in the "CC! Moms" program, which brings moms into the classrooms once a month to do a Six Pillar activity with the students.

Each year the Parents Association at the American School of Monterrey decorates a big Christmas tree that sets the stage for all of the Christmas presentations during the month of December. The tree is huge and takes almost a week to decorate.  This year the Parents Association took a different take on the tree decorating. They decided that they wanted the tree to represent Character Counts! So not only does the school have ONE BIG tree, but they have a tree decorated for each pillar as well!

The third grade students and their moms helped create the ornaments that went on each tree and the Parent Association decorated, decorated, and decorated in order to finish up the trees. At the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, the trees lighted up and the message was, "Haz una Feliz Navidad" ...."MAKE a MERRY CHRISTMAS."

Pictured above: Children help celebrate the tree lighting ceremony  with a boisterous musical presentation...And Pillar-colored wigs.

Students at five Dickson County elementary schools can “Start Dreamin’” this week as the Dickson County Education Edge Committee is sponsoring assemblies at Charlotte, and elementary schools to promote character education and reinforce Character Counts! through the "Six Pillars of Character." The “Six Pillars of Character” are: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship.

PRIMARY FOCUS is a performance team made up of eight college students who are presenting the character-building message through music, dance and interactive drama. 

Janet Cluck, Dickson County UT Extension director, said the program is an opportunity to reinforce the partnership between the Education Edge Committee, the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce and the UT Extension Office in teaching children the importance of good character.

“The program is very lively, kid-friendly and promotes great messages about character. We appreciate the involvement of the school system in allowing us to bring this program into Dickson County schools.”

Judy Woodard, vice principal at Charlotte Elementary School, said the students were delighted with the program.

“The messages were about how to make the right choices in life,” Woodard said.

“The cast sang songs, performed skits about each pillar and sent a valuable message to our students.”

The above is an excerpt from an article by Teri Burton of the Dickson Herald. Click here to read the full article.

A jar of assorted-colored gummy candy served as last month's brain teaser at Garrison Middle School, with students competing to guess how many of each color of candy fit in the jar. But not just any student could take a guess. Students who had been recognized for positive behavior, picking up litter, or talking with a new student, for example, could have received a special ticket for the chance.

Examples of students showing positive behavior far outweigh the times students act up, school administrators say. Yet the chance to recognize students for good character was not part of the academic routine, until now.
 
Through a $10,000 grant, the school has been following a national ethics program that teaches six core values. The Character Counts! program is part of the Josephson Institute of Ethics., a nonprofit, nonsectarian and nonpartisan organization.
 
Each month is a new focus. On Thursday, students started the day by learning about fairness.
``It's really just about being good people,'' said Gina Yonts, assistant principal.

The program reinforces the school's code of conduct among students and is meant to support and, in some cases, reward positive behavior.

The winners of the jar-guessing, for example, won lunch with Principal Jim Sporleder. A class with a winning billboard highlighting the core values won a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, muffins and juice.

School officials hope the lessons transcend the classroom and can be applied throughout the day.

``This is something we do day in and day out,'' said Chris Blackman, a special education teacher at Garrison who is heading the program.

The above is an excerpt from an article by Maria P. Gonzalez of the Union-Bulletin. Click here to read the full article.

The Tennessee Department of Education named Maryville Middle School and the Alvin C. York Institute winners of the 2006 Best Practices in Character Education Merit Award recognizing these schools as models for improving attitudes and behavior within the school.

According to the Department of Education, Maryville Middle School focuses on diversity, launching events and projects to build schoolwide understanding of differences, discrimination and respect. The school reports a 38 percent decline in discipline referrals between January and May 2006 compared to the previous year.

The York Institute in Fentress County uses the six pillars of strength for Character Counts as the foundation of the school's behavior and discipline plan. These principles -- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship -- are taught and reinforced in English class every year. The school also honors students who model these traits with an annual Dragon Pride Rally.

The above is an excerpt from an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Read the full article here.

Karen Romo has been driving a school bus for Tehachapi Unified School District for 10 years. She said that she likes her job and enjoys interacting with the kids, and makes it a personal goal to learn their names and provide a positive first encounter as they begin their day.

When the school district handed out employee assignments last month as part of the Character Counts program, a nationwide educational program aimed at instilling values that will support good choices, Romo chose to prepare a project related to citizenship.

“When I looked up the word ‘citizenship’ it talked about an individual’s rights and responsibilities to the community. My responsibility is to hold up my end of the bargain — that’s driving the bus and keeping the kids safe and doing the best I can do. That’s where our pledge comes in.”

Romo decided to demonstrate her commitment to promote good citizenship within the district by getting her fellow bus drivers to sign a pledge to the community:

“I intend to start each day with a positive attitude.
I intend to model good behavior.
I intend to follow all the laws of the road.
I intend to be a courteous and considerate driver.
I intend to maintain a safe and enjoyable ride to everyone who enters the school bus.”

Romo said the drivers were very excited about the pledge, as well as the support of the District Superintendent Marian Stephens, who also signed the pledge.

Describing her motivation, Romo said that bus drivers aren’t always looked upon favorably, so she felt it was a good idea to offer something to the public to show their dedication to doing what can sometimes be a stressful job.

“When people personalize it there is a better understanding. It’s easy to dislike people or things when you don’t know or understand them.”

The above is an excerpt from an article by Carin Enovijas of the Tehachapi News. Read the full article here.

Teaching values is tricky today in a win-at-any-cost world. Social forces promoting dishonesty and cynicism are affecting everyone, including Catholic school students.

Acknowledging this moral morass, archdiocesan religious educators announced last month they are ratcheting up their character development and values education efforts by joining forces with a secular, nonpartisan coalition of more than 6,300 schools and organizations across the U.S. using the nation's leading character development program: Character Counts!

Character Counts!, administered by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Josephson Institute of Ethics, teaches values education through its "Six Pillars of Character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Currently in place at 30 local Catholic elementary and high schools, the character-building program has proven to be a positive enhancement to traditional religious virtues training.

"We are proud of the great job our Catholic schools have been doing and we have always focused on values, but we've come to realize that we need a more systematic and comprehensive approach to character building if we are to reach today's youth," said Sister of Charity Mary Elizabeth Galt, archdiocesan chancellor.

Making her comments during national Character Counts! Week Oct. 15-21, Sister Galt said archdiocesan educators will continue to train their teachers to adapt the "highly effective methods of Character Counts! We call it Catholic Character Counts!," explained Sister Galt.

Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, newly elected Josephson Institute of Ethics board member and pastor of St. Monica Church in Santa Monica, praised the program's effectiveness. Noting that nearly 100,000 students attend local Catholic schools, Msgr. Torgerson declared: "The decision to partner with Character Counts! represents a momentous effort to raise the profile of the values of integrity, responsibility and respect, and the building of character."

Owosso High School, part of Owosso Public Schools, a Coalition member, held a CHARACTER COUNTS!/Sense of Belonging Day for 9-12th graders.  Highlights included a comedian and motivational speaker who talked about taking positive risks, making good choices, following dreams, and refraining from drug use.

The event offered time in the classroom to work on a lesson introducing the Six Pillars of Character. Students watched "Remember the Titans" and answered character related questions. They also completed the Josephson Institute Report Card survey to help staff gain perspective on their values, attitudes and behaviors. The day ended with a pep assembly and wrestling match featuring a skit and CC! quotes.

At a recent CHARACTER COUNTS! Task Force meeting, members received an update on the pocket park/rest stop project. The CHARACTER COUNTS! Task Force is developing six rest stops (one for each of the six pillars) on the recreational trail that winds through the Industrial Park on the west edge of New Hampton. Construction of the rest stops began last summer and they will be completed in the spring of 2007…

The pocket park will serve as a living memorial to the Six Pillars of CHARACTER COUNTS! the guiding principles of the youth in this community…

Task force members are seeking grants and other donations to fund this $50,000 project…

Over 300 hours of volunteer work have been donated and several thousand dollars of in-kind donations have been offered. Task Force members will continue to receive donations through the completion of this project…

The above excerpts are from an article that ran in NorthEast Iowa Focus. Read the full article here.

At Semmes Elementary in Mobile, Alabama teachers are recognizing students who voluntarily display great character. Twenty-eight “Kids of Character” were honored for exemplifying trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, citizenship and caring at a special celebration with their parents at a local fun center. In addition, students, teachers, local businesses and community members are networking character education activities through the internet program, CharacterEd.net. The program enhances CHARACTER COUNTS! programs in Mobile schools by reinforcing the Six Pillars of Character learned in the classroom at home and in the community.