McDole Elementary School Social Worker Vikki Moeller offered this description of a recent visit from the current Miss Illinois, Heidi Ekstrom:

Eckstrom, formerly Miss Kane County, made a special appearance at McDole to speak about the "six pillars of character" -- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship -- highlighted in the CHARACTER COUNTS! program.

The students, ages 5 to 10, raised their hands and gave examples of how they live the six attributes of character, such as being nice to people and taking responsibility for their actions.

"Respect is the golden rule," Eckstrom told the students, adding that means accepting people for who they are.

Eckstrom shared how her younger sister once cried every day before school because she was afraid to tell anyone that others in her class were teasing her.

Principal Fran Eggleston said Miss Illinois was invited to reinforce the CHARACTER COUNTS! emphasis the school places in classrooms across the district each day.

Eggleston said teachers have weaved into their lessons how bullying someone at school is neither tolerated nor an acceptable form of behavior.

"We do not have an overly bullying problem, but by focusing on the CHARACTER COUNTS!, we are working to eliminate it," Eggleston said.

Fourth grader Marissa Morton was recognized at the assembly for developing a reward system to eliminate bullying. The youngster has given talks in classes about ways to handle bullying.

Miss Illinois has a full schedule of appearances throughout Illinois, so McDole was pleased to have her visit their school.

Since receiving the crown in July at the Miss Illinois Pageant in St. Charles, Eckstrom has logged approximately 10,000 miles for appearances at schools and speaking engagements at charitable events. Eckstrom's personal platform is enriching the lives of children with disabilities.