If you live in Southern California, your next trip to the grocery store could be a character-building experience.

Ralphs is promoting CHARACTER COUNTS! in every single store. You’ll see a rack of our products and information, a sign at the door, kids’ lunchbox stickers, and advertising in the store flyers. You’ll even hear our own Michael Josephson’s “Food for Thought” messages over the sound system.

Be sure to see all the Pillars in store and check out our CHARACTER COUNTS! awareness and parenting products. Even if you’re not shopping, please tell the store manager how excited you are that they’re celebrating good character. And pass the word on to everyone you know.

If you’re rolling a cart down the aisle and hear, “There’s a Pillar in my produce!” you’ll know you’ve come to the right place!

Visit Ralphs.com to find a store near you.

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The San Clemente CHARACTER COUNTS! in San Clemente, CA will be hosting their annual CC! Week Jamboree to celebrate the Six Pillars of Character. This year the Jamboree will feature a Wild West theme, including 70 educational booths, arts and crafts, games, and many western performances!

The Jamboree will take place at Vista Del Mar Middle School on Saturday, September 26 to celebrate CHARACTER COUNTS! and National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week. For more information about the events taking place in San Clemente, please call 949-361-8368.

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"Character is not developed by accident. It’s not something that happens spontaneously. It’s gotta be proactive. It’s gotta be intentional. It’s gotta be purposeful. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun!" says Michael Josephson, president and CEO of the Josephson Institute.

Art Teacher Suzette Morrow of Potterville High School knows how to make character education fun. Students in two of her classes recently completed a series of large murals depicting the Six Pillars of Character in creative ways.

Continue reading "Potterville, CA: Murals with a Mission" »

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One of our close contacts, teacher Mary Jo Enyeart of Downey USD, was honored Monday night by the Metropolitan Lodge of Downey Masonic Temple with their Community Leadership Award for her directorship of CHARACTER COUNTS! in the school district and community of Downey, CA.

"[Enyeart's] innate ability to connect with students of diverse backgrounds along with her tireless work ethic have influenced countless numbers of students into becoming respected and productive members of society," stated a representative of Downey USD. "During [her] 30-year career, Mary Jo Enyeart has also been a leader by example to countless new teachers, veteran teachers, support staff, and administrators alike."

Congratulations Mary Jo!

Mary Jo Enyeart with Downey USD Superintendent, Dr. Wendy Doty

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If you are implementing a comprehensive character-education program, you know good things are happening. The school environment is less hostile, students are more emotionally aware, truancy rates drop, and academic achievement improves.

As a teacher, you want the world to know about them, too. You want to help other schools develop their character-education program and to help their students become more trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, and to become better citizens. The problem is, as usual, there’s no money.

Tulare County Office of Education

Continue reading "Tulare County, CA: The Grant Application Process" »

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This March CHARACTER COUNTS! President Michael Josephson received a letter from a parent of a child whose school was implementing the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework. The principal of the high school was seen as a man of high standards, morals, and ethics, and he was an ardent supporter of CC!. The author of the letter went on to say that the day a CC! assembly was scheduled at the high school, the principal was arrested in a sex-sting operation.

The school’s response was to cancel the assembly, claiming it was inappropriate given the timing. Is this appropriate?

Continue reading "Living Up to the Public Trust" »

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Leaders from schools and districts in the Los Angeles area visited Rio Hondo Elementary in Downey, California, to learn about that school's successful CHARACTER COUNTS! program. Pictured here are the hosts of the June 4 presentation: Downey USD Superintendent Wendy Doty, CC! President Michael Josephson, Rio Hondo Principal Dolores Goble, and Assistant Principal Rani Bertsch.

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In an effort to keep their peers out of gangs, students at Lennox Middle School in Los Angeles sent a message that hit home.

And the people in those homes responded. Many turned out for a student-organized CHARACTER COUNTS! Family Event, which brought together moms, dads, sisters and brothers for a day of activities focusing on the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Don't bother getting up: Lennox Middle School family members find someone to lean on at the CC! Family Event.

Continue reading "Lennox, CA: Middle School Students Put Families First" »

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Students from West Middle School's ASPIRE afterschool program in Downey, CA, delivered a heartwarming presentation to Josephson Institute's Board of Governors at a February meeting in Los Angeles. The students recounted to the Board how CHARACTER COUNTS! had affected them and the special education students for whom they recently made stuffed animals.

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When the small group of kids from Lennox Middle School watched in awe from courtside as the Lakers warmed up before a recent home game, student Michael Morales said to himself, “And I thought I was tall.”

The students, the first of 30 who will receive free tickets over the next few weeks, were the guests of forward Brian Cook, who treated them to tickets for demonstrating good character as part of his Cook's All-Stars community program.

Judging from the letters the kids wrote Cook afterward, his gesture meant a lot to them and their school.

'I had a sign that said DO IT FOR BRICK, COOKIE! because your biography said you had a dog you adopted from Katrina named Brick. ' – Michael Morales

'I enjoyed meeting Brian. He told us to keep up the good work and never give up because following the Pillars will take you where you want to be.' -- Unsigned

'I feel very fortunate because usually Lennox doesn't get recognized, but we are a school of good character and want students to share character skills with their family.' – Melissa Rocha

'It was inspiring how you and your teammates play a part in CHARACTER COUNTS! When you guys lose, you aren't mean. You just say, ‘Hey, you guys won, we lost. Congratulations.' You're an example of character because you inspire kids like me to become better persons.' – Christina Martinez

'I hope you can make more kids smile in the future.' – Jose Morales

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By Lorin Shields-Michel

[This story is reprinted from the CHARACTER COUNTS! Chronicle, a free monthly e-newsletter. Subscribe here.]

Many people have speculated on the lesson imparted by Shakespeare in his most famous soliloquy:

To be or not to be,
That is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing, end them.

Some see a relevance to the crisis facing today’s young princes and princesses: that "to take arms against a sea of troubles" is a rallying cry to learn how to defend oneself in the real world.

Although by high school, most teens have accumulated a variety of weapons in their arsenal (English, math, science, history), many lack the most important preparatory tool of all -- ethics, a subject to which the Bard devoted more than a few verses.

Character is also a subject Eldonna Caudill feels passionately about. As youth program coordinator for the Tulare County Workforce Investment Board (TCWIB) in central California, she shows teens, both in and out of high school, that values can be not only a way of life, but a way to make a living.

Continue reading "Prepping Teens for the Workplace" »

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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."

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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.

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CHARACTER COUNTS! organizers in Riverside County, California, recognized local youth in a ceremony and issued this press release:

The Council for Youth Development (Council), the Youth Voice for the Workforce Development Board, hosted the Second Annual CHARACTER COUNTS! Awards Ceremony on October 18, 2006.

CHARACTER COUNTS! Founder Michael Josephson’s Six Pillars of Character (trustworthiness, fairness, caring, respect, responsibility, and citizenship) assisted Youth Opportunity Centers of Riverside County (YOC) staff and panelists (public and private-sector representatives) to determine the nominees and finalists for this most prestigious award. The CHARACTER COUNTS! Six Pillars of CHARACTER are an integral part of the seven YOC education modules used to develop youths’ character.  Character building for youth involves peer-centered, leadership and community activities for development and strengthening of character.

The award recipients have overcome many challenges, such as low self esteem and/or expulsion from school for misconduct, to achieve success in school and life.  In their efforts to make a positive change in their lives, the award recipients found the help of a mentor and the YOC programs to be pivotal in changing the course of their lives for the better.

Kody McQueen and six other young people turned their lives around with the assistance of caring mentors and involvement in a YOC. Award recipients, pictured above from left to right, were:

• James Lockhart, Arbor Win Center (Indio)
• Maria Martinez, Youth T.R.U.S.T (Moreno Valley)
• Edward Max, Planet Youth (Lake Elsinore)
• Kody McQueen, Riverside YOC
• Esteban Hernandez, The OASIS (Perris)
• Katherine Tanner, Empower State Building (Hemet)
• Silvia Ortega, Jurupa YOC (Rubidoux)

Said honoree Kody McQueen: “I began to steal and lie to get what I needed. This type of behavior continued until … the YOC (Youth Opportunity Center) staff … showed me they cared not just about correcting my behavior but about ensuring that I was safe and didn’t end up in places I would be unhappy with.”

Additionally, Maria Martinez received the Riverside Community College (RCC) Foundation’s $500 Scholarship.  The scholarship opportunity will assist Maria in purchasing textbooks and other much needed services while attending one of the RCC campuses.

Companies and individuals responsible for making the event a success are the City of Indio - Silver Sponsor; Bronze Sponsors - Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE), and Arbor Education and Training; and other contributors - Express Signs & Digital Printing; Heidi Marshall; Coast to Coast Laser; Kleinfelder, Inc.; Management and Training Corporation - Inland Empire Job Corps Center; Quality Printing; RCC Foundation; Riverside Marriott; RCOE Regional Occupational Program - Business and Marketing (Floral); California Family Life Center; Craig Van Houten; Rosa Penaloza; and Michael Bracken. 

For more information about the Youth Opportunity Centers, please call La Tonya Johnson, Coordinator of the Council, at 951.955.3108 or e-mail lsjohnson@rivcoeda.org.

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James Lockhart of Indio received a CHARACTER COUNTS! award from the Council for Youth Development and Youth Voice for the Workforce Development Board.

The two organizations, under the umbrella of the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, hosted its second annual CHARACTER COUNTS! Awards Ceremony on Oct. 18.

Lockhart participates in programs at the ACS Win Center in Indio and was one of seven recipients of the award in the county.

CHARACTER COUNTS! awards honor Riverside County youth that have “overcome many challenges … to achieve success in school and life” through the Youth Opportunity Centers of Riverside County programs, according to a press release.

The above is an article written by Mariecar Mendoza of The Desert Sun. Click here to view original article.

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El Segundo Middle School holds a CHARACTER COUNTS! assembly every six weeks to honor students who exemplify good character. Students in each homeroom nominate one of their peers to receive an award of certificates and treats. Parents, teachers, administrators, and friends attend the awards ceremony.

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San Diego Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding led a CHARACTER COUNTS! Week celebration at the October 12 Chargers football game. An announcement for CC! Week is featured on the scoreboard during the game’s Field Goal Challenge.

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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.

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Christensen Middle School implemented CC! after attending a Character Development Seminar in March. Staff members voted in favor of a 20-minute homeroom time on Tuesdays devoted to ethics and character discussions. During their years at Christensen Middle, students will establish a connection with their CHARACTER COUNTS! teachers. Christensen Middle School hopes CC! will become a school-wide effort in which the Six Pillar values are reinforced across the curriculum.

Teachers will use the Ethical Decision Making Model and a variety of CC! resources. They will also honor students who demonstrate the Pillar values.

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A colorful postcard is a great way to promote your organization's CHARACTER COUNTS! event. This creative example was made by Linwood E. Howe Elementary to promote a CC! presentation featuring Michael Josephson.

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Every month, teachers at Cummings Valley Elementary School select one student who has demonstrated the character trait chosen that month. Several students who were commended for practicing “Trustworthiness: Promise-Keeping and Loyalty” during March were highlighted in the Tehachapi News.

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Now, CC! posters adorn the campus, and a committee meets each month to discuss creative and motivating ways to introduce the Six Pillars to the school community.

Each month, a schoolwide event takes place to promote the "Pillar of the Month." By December 2005, three had occurred:

• To celebrate Responsibility in October, the students and teachers participated in a “Homework Heatwave” contest, sponsored by the PTA. Each class kept track of the percent of students who turned in homework. At the end of the month, the class with the highest percentage won a pizza party, courtesy of the PTA.
• To celebrate Respect in November, all adults -- including teachers, office staff, cafeteria staff, custodians and support staff -- became marshals. The marshals issued warrants to students "caught" being respectful. Those who received a warrant were entered into a weekly drawing to win a prize.
• To celebrate Caring in December, students are making Christmas cards for a local convalescent hospital, and a group of Mission students will deliver them. The kindergarten classrooms are participating in a Scholastic Book program that promotes caring. For each class that reads 100 books overall, Scholastic will donate 100 books to an underprivileged class that needs them.

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Charming CC! murals abound in Tulare County, and the Tulare County Office of Education has released a booklet that highlights them. Superintendent Jim Vidak calls the work "a celebration of the colorful reminders created by Tulare County teachers, students and parents," and the murals themselves are diverse. For instance, the Mooney Grove Park north mural shows a densely-leafed tree with snowy peaks in the distance, and the names of the Six Pillars on its strong root system. The Kaweah Delta Hospital mural depicts a female profile lifted toward a starlit night on the left, and a male face lifted toward a sunny sky on the right. All the murals are distinctive and appealing.

The editor of the booklet was John Forenti, CC! coordinator at the Office of Education from 1996 to 2005. Public information officer Robert Herman did the attractive design, and Davuid Thurber and Pamela Kunze took the photos.

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Rock music was throbbing everywhere as people picked their way through aisles of vendors selling quilts, jewelry, sculptures, and more at the Character Rocks Street Fair on Sunday, November 13, 2005. The event celebrated the role of CHARACTER COUNTS! in the Poway Unified School District, according to the North County Times, and thousands attended.

CC! is "so much in the fiber of our school district," that the Poway Chamber of Commerce sought to infuse it into the fair, said chamber CEO Toni Kraft. On one of the two stages, students gave a presentation about CC!.

In addition to celebrating CC!, the fair honored Poway's role in rock history, entertainment coordinator John Riley told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "World-famous rock bands including Blink 182, Unwritten Law and Louis XIV all hail from Poway," he said. "These bands have sold millions of albums, sold out thousands of shows around the world and have been all over MTV."

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Among the multitude of CC! activities in the Poway schools:

• Park Village Elementary -- Teacher Ricardo Cecena and his staff took a CDS in July 2004. "I just want to tell you that CC! has made a positive difference in our overall school climate," he says. "We have seen a decrease in the amount of disciplinary problems schoolwide and parents have also noted that they like being able to use a common vocabulary when they talk with their children. Thank you for all of the great ideas that you presented at our last seminar. They have truly made a difference at our school."
• Creekside Elementary -- Student support specialist Michelle Wiese runs a club that meets after school and works on the Pillars throughout the year. The club sponsored a pet caring contest, in which students drew pictures or included photos of themselves with their pets and wrote a paragraph on how their care for them. These works went on display in the multipurpose room. In the fall of 2004 classes made 145 Thanksgiving cards and distributed them to an assisted living home in town.
• Garden Road Elementary -- This staff started the 2005 school year wearing CHARACTER COUNTS! T-shirts on dress-down Fridays. In the spring of 2005, the kids began ordering them
• Pomerado Elementary -- The newsletter highlights a Pillar each month, posts it on the bulletin board, and hangs banners in the multipurpose room. Staff members wear CC! T-shirts and students pass a beautifully drawn mural as they enter the school.
• Westwood Elementary -- The school has rewritten its discipline plan and rewards program to reflect the Six Pillars, and includes character messages in its communications with parents. It also held a "Character Rocks" assembly with Phil Baker. In the library, Six Pillar posters adorn the walls "and we refer to them all the time," says librarian Barbara Chappell-Brown. She also reads to students and asks them whether the characters in the stories exhibit the Pillars. "I'm so glad I participated in the CHARACTER COUNTS! program," she says. "It has enhanced my life."
  

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In Cathedral City schools, CC! came in after DARE, according to teacher Tiffany Silva, and a policeman who trained at a CDS now does a program with fifth graders. Cathedral City Elementary School has also begun a point system. A class receives a point when it shows good character by behavior such as lining up promptly and staying quiet. When it earns 20 points, the class gets to go to the CC! party at the end of the month. "Sometimes they watch one of the videos and share ice cream, play games," said Ms. Silva. "This past month we made CC! banners for our MPR."

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Sharply-drawn "ghost flames" that change color under sunlight adorn two new PT cruisers at the San Ramon Valley Fire District. And fire safety instructors Danielle Bell and Erick Hubbard are using them to teach CC! to some 4,000 students at 25 schools.

The fire district adopted CC! in 2002, the first Northern California fire service to do so, and led the way for other departments.

The flame cars are a natural fit for the fire department's program, which integrates CC! with fire safety, Mr. Hubbard told the Contra Costa Times in November 2005.

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Westwood schools began implementing CC! in September 2005. "The staff is working on incorporating the Six Pillars into their interaction with one another," Henry Bietz, district superintendent and principal at Westwood High, told the Lassen County News, "and we are in the process of slowly getting the students involved in what those Six Pillars are and trying to get them to understand what it means to be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring and a good citizen."

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In August 2005 the Metro Los Angeles YMCA held its first annual “Y’s World of Kids Day,” and 726 youth day camp, child care, and teen participants attended. The theme was character development, and as Christine Watts says, "We celebrated and enriched the lives of YMCA youth participants by gathering together to build friendships and fun in a day that built character."

The event featured astrojumps, booths with "character bucks," and friendship bracelets with “CHARACTER COUNTS!” on them. In addition, a YMCA branch spirit/character stick competition took place. The branch with the most spirit took possession of the Character/Spirit Stick until next year. "It was a great event and enjoyed by all," says Ms. Watts.

Continue reading "Los Angeles, CA: YMCA's World of Kids Day" »

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Almost two dozen Los Angeles area Catholic elementary and high schools will add CC! to their curriculum in 2005-06.

"We would like to be the first diocese in the country where the program is totally integrated," said Nancy Coonis, the archdiocesan superintendent of secondary schools.. "Each school is free to integrate CHARACTER COUNTS! the way they want. Some schools focus on a different Pillar each week.

"The reason we like the program is because the Six Pillars of Character are universal. They are values we can all agree on," Ms. Coonis told Tidings. Since January 2005, 77 teachers and administrative staff from 23 schools have attended CDS's with a Catholic version of CC!, offering Catholic moral instruction, Biblical passages and quotes from saints.

Dan Horn, principal of St. Genevieve High in Panorama City, has seen big improvements in students after five years of CC!. "Having a character education program has transformed our school. The students see the atmosphere of the school as just as much their responsibility as the administrators'," he said, adding that CC! has bred a climate unconducive to hazing or bullying.

This summer, seven St. Genevieve students took part in a national "Operation Respect" forum in Washington D.C. "It was a life-changing experience for them," said Mr. Horn. "More and more, the students want the opportunity to be leaders." He is grooming two more groups of students who will go to Atlanta and San Antonio this fall to speak on character education.

"I'm passionate about CHARACTER COUNTS!," said economics teacher Ron Rishagen of St. Bernard High, who integrated the Six Pillars in his classes after attending the January CDS. He says CC! has improved kids' academic performance and behavior, including their relations with parents.

"The students enjoy it so much. They learn social graces and how to respect each other. They also learn the consequences of such actions as cheating and lying. I personally am a changed person and I'm 62," said Mr. Rishagen.

CC! will become part of all St. Bernard classes in the next school year. Over the summer of 2005, Mr. Rishagen produced a CD for his fellow teachers with CC! exercises they can use in the classroom. The CD also contains essays from students about the impact of CC! on them. For instance, one wrote, "The program has changed my character because I am nicer to others and I think about their feelings." Another said, "I have become more responsible and [I] began trusting other people more." Still another stated, "'Responsibility' has changed me because my grades are way better. Before I wouldn't do my homework and I would be worried the next day because I would try to do it in other classes but now I go home and do my homework and feel much better knowing I am prepared to be in class."

"I would encourage every educator to get into the program because it works and life is so much more pleasant for everyone in the classroom," said Mr. Rishagen.

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On April 20, 2005, the Bonner Center of Character Education honored three schools in the Clovis Unified School District -- Rayburn Intermediate, Clark Intermediate and Kastner Intermediate -- with its prestigious Virtues and Character Recognition Awards.

Michael Josephson was the keynote speaker at the event. Over 700 prospective teachers, local education dignitaries and university faculty attended.

The Bonner Center’s awards recognize exemplary local schools whose practices enhance the moral thinking and behavior of students.

Held in the Fresno Convention Center, the awards ceremony took place in conjunction with the Annual Conference on Character and Civic Education, sponsored by the dean of the School of Education at CSU-Fresno. This event emphasizes the importance of character education to the university's student teachers.

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Congratulations to Jim Vidak, Tulare County Superintendent of Schools and a member of the Josephson Institute Board of Governors, who received the Charles Binderup Award on April 1, 2005.

The award goes to an individual who has shown exemplary California school leadership, and Mr. Vidak is the first county superintendent ever to win it.

In their nomination papers, several Tulare County superintendents cited CHARACTER COUNTS! as a reason for the award. Mr. Vidak has brought CC! to districts throughout Tulare County.

"He is probably unaware of the positive impact he has to those such as myself and other people who look up to him for guidance and support," said John Manning, superintendent of the Palo Verde Elementary School District south of Tulare.

The award took place at the annual conference of the Small School Districts' Association, which represents about 500 California districts with fewer than 3,500 students.

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On March 31, 2005, Freedom Elementary School held its first Kindness Week to highlight the Six Pillars of Character. The school launched the week by beginning a kindness chain made of slips of papers on each of which students wrote an act of kindness they had performed.

Before long, say school personnel, students were being kind to each other in the classroom and on the playground, and the kindness chain grew and grew. The children also brought in kindness slips from their good deeds at home.

At the Kindness Assembly, students celebrated with music and balloons, which the kindergartners released. Each balloon had message inside urging the person who found it to perform an act of kindness.

The school also counted the total number of kind deeds. In just two and a half days Freedom Elementary not only met its goal of 1,000 acts of kindness, but exceeded it by 1,212 -- for a total of 2,212.

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It takes courage to say you are not going to participate in underage drinking. It takes moral courage to tell others not to do the same. This was the message imparted at the leadership training for the Poway Unified School District, facilitated by Kay Augustine, National Faculty member, and Wendy Haverman. Both trainers are from the Institute of Character Development at Drake University in Des Moines. "Poway USD, located just outside of San Diego, has received a grant for the development of a student-leadership cadre to focus on reducing the use and abuse of alcohol in underage drinkers," according to Kay. CC! provided the leadership session on December 5, 2005.

Students from four Poway high schools participated in the program. The training consisted of reinforcing the Six Pillars and placing the framework within the context of alcohol education. In order to instill leadership capabilities, active listening and facilitation skills were presented. The student response was very positive, as indicated in the scenario portion of the training. Students were able to clearly define how situations relative to teenage drinking should be handled. They will take this knowledge back to their school sites and make a difference.

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The Six Pillars ideally pervade the life of a school, and at Twin Peaks Middle School in Poway, California, they pervaded the 2004 yearbook as well. As a result, when kids look back on their yearbook later in life, they will recall the values of CC!.

Here are a few places where the Six Pillars appear: 

* The cover, which shows six pillars supporting a marble pediment. 
* The first page, which mentions the Six Pillars and says, "Building Good Character. Building Good Memories." 
* Six two-page spreads that follow. Each spread illustrates a Pillar, showing photos of kids with Six Pillar captions (like "Responsibility NEVER quits!") and quotes both from the famous (like Eleanor Roosevelt) and the kids themselves. 
* Every two-page spread in the class photo section. Pillars bookend each one and the legend "8th Grade Character Builders. Building 8th Grade Memories" runs across the top.
* The first page of the "Ads & Index," which shows and names the Six Pillars.

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A Six Pillars mural by a young Presidential Scholar debuted in San Diego County in June 2004, and may appear on a PBS show in September.

The mural is at Sunset Hills Elementary School in Rancho Penasquitos. On June 15 principal Roger Tso led the dedication of this lively artwork, in front of parents, teachers, the CC! coordinator, and kids seated on the playground. 

One observer called the ceremony "gratifying" and "wonderful," and added, "In conversations with the principal and others I was overwhelmed by the progress they have made at this school in one year."

Stan Prokopenko, the high school artist who painted the mural, recently won a Presidential Scholar award granted to 50 students nationwide. A PBS program will highlight him and 10 other winners in September, and a film crew trailed him around in the week before the dedication. The crew also visited Sunset Hills Elementary and shot footage of Stan with the mural.

Sunset Hills launched CHARACTER COUNTS! in 2003-4, and the staff soon decided that a mural facing the playground would remind students about character during lunch and recess. Principal Tso contacted a high school art teacher to find an artist to paint the Six Pillars, and found Stan. Working with Mr. Tso, Stan created the beguiling mural, and soon after, the image was silk-screened on t-shirts and sweatshirts. The school encourages students and staff to wear the shirt every Friday.

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Calvert Street School held its First Annual CHARACTER COUNTS! Essay Contest on March 15, 2004. All fourth and fifth grade students took part and the winners gave their speeches in a CC! assembly. "We feel that this project will have lasting positive effects on our students," said Sheila Clapkin of the school.

Here are excerpts from some of the winning essays:

"Having the Six Pillars of Character to me seems like six different powers. You can feel like a superhero and help people in different ways and in different situations." 
-- Ali Faghihi

"You have to be responsible for everything you do. If you want to be responsible you have to think ahead, set reasonable goals, and don't give up easily." 
-- Karon J. Christie

"Respect means you have to be considerate. You can test yourself. If you talk in class you are not respectful, but if you don't talk in class then you are respectful, at least when the teacher is talking. Take the test. It really rocks." 
-- Sidney Ann Straussner

"I play on a Little league team. Part of being on a team is learning to play fair by following the rules of the game. Everyone is treated equally because in 'team' there is no 'I.' … The rules I have learned in baseball I can use in real life." 
-- Andrew Chavez

"Around Calvert School it is nice to pick up the trash to respect the school." 
-- Marcus Davis

"If you are walking down the street playing ding-dong ditch and get caught, you must be responsible for what you do. So if you blame it on your friend, that's not taking responsibility for what you did. If you are too scared to get into trouble for what you did then that tells you that you are not responsible." 
-- Antonio Allen

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By February of 2004, the Orange County Sheriff's Department had partnered with the Penny Saver in Orange County to recognize middle school students for good character. Once a week they feature a student who demonstrates making good choices. Teachers choose these students. "That is 52 students a year more that we're able to give credit to, for being terrific kids!" said crime prevention specialist Leslie Haight.

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Over December 2003 and January 2004, teachers at Walker Junior High in the Anaheim Union School District held a CC! essay contest. They announced it every day over the loudspeakers and posted a flier with the writing prompt in every classroom. The prompt was: “What person in your life best displays one or more of the Six Pillars of Character, and why?”

After students submitted their essays, members of the CC! committee met and narrowed down the entries until they found one all agreed deserved first place. It was “My Dad,” by eighth grader Clay Fisher. To read this fine work, go here: http://www.charactercounts.org/doing/Essay.htm

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"We have a lot of kids who need 'special attention' and we see a lot of changes because of our character-building activities," says Fernando Lopez, Middle School Program Coordinator.

On most days children do one CC! activity after school. But on Wednesday school ends at 1 p.m. instead of 3, so the 45-60 kids do two CC! activities: games and Q & A. For instance, they might use an obstacle course to focus on teamwork, working on respecting and trusting teammates.

Fort Irwin recently celebrated CC! Week and tied it in with Red Ribbon Week.

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In October 2003 the San Clemente CC! Leadership Council won a community-oriented policing award from Orange County Human Relations for its work over the past six years.

Among the community groups represented were the Capistrano Unified School District, the Boys and Girls Club, the San Clemente Library, YMCA, the San Clemente High School Interact Club, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the City of  San Clemente.

“This was a great award because the other four winners were all police officers, where ours were community members,” said Leslie Haight, crime prevention specialist with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

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A Chain of Character highlighted CC! Week in this city of over 100,000 near Los Angeles. Individuals in schools, businesses, and organizations described on strips of paper how someone affected their life through one of the Six Pillars. Community volunteers linked the strips together on Make a Difference Day (Saturday, October 25), and hung the chain on the second floor banister of a local shopping center for two weeks. Some  21 schools and 27 businesses and organizations took part in the celebration.

Moreover, the shopping center donated a kiosk which residents decorated with the Six Pillars of Character, information on the Chain of Character project, and brochures and pamphlets from the Josephson Institute. 

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The new Fair Oaks Ranch Community School commenced CHARACTER COUNTS! from its very first day. The whole staff took part in the training from the outset, and character information followed daily on a TV program run by anchormen in the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program. At the end of each month students perform a skit on TV that demonstrates how to exercise the monthly trait in the home, school and community.

In addition, kids in primary grades learn music with Character Classics: classical music with lyrics on character themes. They also learn about the lives of the composers, the struggles they underwent in their personal lives, and how they overcame them.

Att Valley View Community School, character is part of the “road” network. Whenever visitors need directions to the office, classroom, or library, they follow the CHARACTER COUNTS! street signs posted throughout the campus: Respect Road, Caring Court, Fairness Freeway, Trustworthiness Avenue, Citizenship Court and Responsibility Boulevard. In addition the school has a Polite Place, Courtesy Corner, and Justice Road (at the principal's office). A large wooden post with all the street names stands in the center pod of the school building.

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On February 20, 2003, 11-year-old Valeria Aguirre spotted a large wad of cash on the sidewalk. “I was so amazed,” she said. She shouted to her friends Ana Aguilar, 11, and Cynthia Ramirez, 12, and they came over and picked it up. It was a three-figure sum, and at first one felt they should keep it. But the sixth-graders debated the issue and finally decided to turn it in to the police.

“I was surprised, but at the same time extremely pleased,” said Police Chief John Zapalac. “They emphasize CHARACTER COUNTS! at the schools, and obviously they are listening.” The three attend Woodlake Valley Middle School.

Aguirre’s mother, Deloras Aguirre, gave each girl five dollars when she discovered their act of honesty. The Rotary Club honored them with an invitation to lunch, and member Terry Baker said, “You have so many you see who are doing bad things, and then you have kids like this.” And the local paper, the Visalia Times-Delta, printed an editorial praising the girls.

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“CHARACTER COUNTS! Week 2002 was a rousing success,” says John Forenti, CC! coordinator for the Office of Education in Tulare County. This year Tulare County honored over 1,800 young people as Kids of Character. It is the highest number in history, easily beating last year’s 1,400 and far above the 120 of 1996, when the program began. The Visalia Times Delta highlighted a different student in a story every day during CC! Week, and at its end the paper printed the names of all the young people. The Kids of Character, Forenti noted, “come to comfort us every year like a cool breeze on a warm Valley night. They raise the standards and inspire us all to become ‘better people.’”

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Beautifying their school and honoring their nation in the wake of tragedy, students at Alta Vista Elementary designed tiles for an “America the Beautiful” mural near the office, in January 2002. Manny Murillo, father of kindergartner Danielle Murillo, oversaw the project and donated his time, talent, material, and tile crew to it.

Alta Vista has had a busy 2001-02, and among its other achievements:

• Kindergarten teacher Connie Livingston has launched the monthly newsletter Pillar Talk, to inform families how CC! is affecting the lives of staff, students, and parents.

• Students from Alta Vista held a book drive and gathered over 3,500 new and slightly-used books to donate to Loren Miller School in Los Angeles. On March 21, 2002, a bus full of students and teacher volunteers arrived at Loren Miller, where grateful students greeted them and held a special schoolwide assembly to express their appreciation.

• Kindergartners made food tray place cards for residents of a local convalescent home, and posters and collection boxes for “Cheer for Children,” a volunteer group that gathers toys, clothing, and other items for needy kids.

• Students from several elementary schools in the district are performing songs about character in the Galleria Mall on the first Tuesday of each month.

• Ms. Livingston and others are developing a bumper sticker contest based on the Six Pillars.

• A local organization called Leadership Redondo has taken on CC! as a special project for the community, aiming to make Six Pillars language common currency in the town.

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A new CC! tile wall brightens Jefferson Elementary. It began in September 2001, spurred by an active parent, Diane Murphy, who went on to coordinate the project. “The parents wanted to emphasize the importance of good character and leave a lasting reminder to all,” says Jan Malone of the school. Each of the 600+ students made a tile representing a Pillar of Character. The builders finished the wall in April, 2002, and dedicated it in a small ceremony on April 21. Jerry Klein of the Redondo Beach Unified School District attended, and Jan Malone gave a talk about character.

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Over 350 people gathered at the Atlantis Play Center for the CHARACTER COUNTS! Family Picnic on April 27, 2002. They enjoyed game booths, a rock climbing wall, an inflatable obstacle course, open play in an arena soccer park, live entertainment and a barbecue lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers.

In addition, there was a drawing for 20 youths to march in the annual Strawberry Festival Parade on Memorial Day weekend. The winners will carry a banner reading "CHARACTER COUNTS! because ...," on which all attendees can finish the sentence. Each youth will also receive an event t-shirt and hat to wear during the march to display the city's commitment to character.

Hosts for the CC! Family Picnic were the City of Garden Grove Community Services Department in association with the Garden Grove Community Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove.

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When a five-year-old named Spencer read about a three-year-old boy who had lost all his belongings when a fire burned down his house in 2001, Spencer offered any of his toys to the boy. The child picked Spencer’s prize dinosaur collection. Spencer also donated his new bed for the boy to sleep on. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department awarded Spencer a certificate and a t-shirt, and later gave him a ride in a police car and let him use the police radio. “You should have seen his face!” says crime prevention specialist Leslie Haight. “And those big, bad, macho deputies melted and showed their true colors in giving Spencer a handshake and a hug. Days like that make it all worth it!”

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"It was magnificent this year,” says John Forenti, the full-time CC! coordinator for the Office of Education in Tulare County, which is about the size of Connecticut. Almost 1,400 children earned recognition as Kids of Character—more than twice the 650 who qualified in 2000. “We were real pleased. As the years go by we’ve grown at an extremely rapid rate.”

“This year we noticed a larger number of Kids of Character from high school,” he adds. “That makes sense to me since we’ve been at this since 1996, and we now have youngsters entering high school. We also have teachers aware of the system, looking for these kids and finding them. So that is a wonderful combination.”

In addition, each day during CC! Week the Visalia Times-Delta newspaper showcased a student who exemplified one of the Six Pillars. At week’s end, the Times-Delta printed the names of all the nearly 1,400 students, and the Office of Education featured approximately 75 students in a special section of the paper on Saturday, October 27.

Earlier, on October 10, county superintendent of schools Jim Vidak and the County Board of Education issued a proclamation declaring October 21-27 CHARACTER COUNTS! Week in Tulare County. Forenti calls Vidak “the driving force” behind the growth of CC! in the area.

Elsewhere around Tulare County during CC! Week 2001:

PIXLEY

The theme of CC! Week at Pixley Elementary School was “A Tribute to America.” Each day students focused on one of the Six Pillars: 

• Monday (Caring) — Monday was Flag Day, and students made flags to honor American heroes.
• Tuesday (Respect) — Student-of-the-Month Recognition Assemblies took place.
• Wednesday (Responsibility) — Pupils vied in an essay contest on Responsibility.
• Thursday (Fairness) — Students competed in a patriotic door decorating contest with emphasis on Fairness.
• Friday (Trustworthiness) — The student council delivered Pixley's Proud Pennies for America donation to the United Way office.
• Saturday (Citizenship) — Pixley's Annual Community Clean-Up Day began at 9 a.m. at the post office. A barbecue lunch hosted by the Lions Club followed.
• Sunday (all Pillars) — Pixley area churches devoted Sunday services to the Six Pillars of Character.

PORTERVILLE

At Vandalia Elementary School children also focused on different Pillars each day:

• Monday — Students competed in a school door-decorating contest featuring the Six Pillars overall, and grades five and six watched "In Search of Character—Respect."
• Tuesday — Kindness Letter Day. Each student wrote a letter of kindness to a parent, grandparent or teacher. Fifth- and sixth-graders viewed "In Search of Character—Responsibility."
• Wednesday — Kindergartners watched "Kids for Character," third- and fourth-graders viewed "Choices,"  and fifth- and sixth-graders saw "In Search of Character— Trustworthiness."
• Thursday — Fifth- and sixth-graders viewed "In Search of Character—Citizenship," and all students engaged in activities from the Good Ideas book.
• Friday — Judges assessed the decorated doors and awarded prizes. Fifth- and sixth-graders watched "In Search of Character—Fairness"

VISALIA

At Divisadero Middle School, students celebrated CHARACTER COUNTS! and Red Ribbon Week in tandem:

• Monday — Decoration and Red Ribbon Day
• Tuesday — Pledge Day (responsibility, trustworthiness, respect and citizenship)
• Wednesday — Drown Out Drugs Day (caring)
• Thursday — Tug Against Drugs (fairness)
• Friday — Balloon Bask (responsibility) 

OROSI

El Monte Middle School staged a CHARACTER COUNTS! chain link contest. Students purchased CC! chain links for 10 cents apiece, with proceeds going both to help the New York relief effort and to provide Thanksgiving dinners for needy families in Orosi. Students also vied in a door-decorating contest.

Students at the Golden Valley Elementary School likewise had a CC! door- decorating contest, with judging on Thursday. In addition, they took part in a Letters of Kindness Day, and wrote fond letters to a parent, grandparent, teacher, or other significant adult.

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CC! Week 2001 was just a few weeks away at the Alta Vista Elementary School and kindergarten teacher Connie Livingston wanted to show the school’s commitment to character. She knew Teri Lovano, whose husband John was a professional muralist, and whose kids Casey and Cooper attended the school. So she approached them and asked if they could paint a wall of the school. They agreed, and she showed them a sketch on Friday, October 12.

The Lovanos came to school with paint the next day, and completed the mural over two weekends—just before CC! Week. It shows the Six Pillars, with a child atop each one waving a banner with a word like “Respect” and “Fairness.” “Other people have said they want one like it on their school,” says Ms. Livingston. “It’s very basic and simple. We just wanted the Pillars to dominate.”

On Friday, October 26, students gathered in a pre-school ceremony to celebrate the mural, listen to Mayor Greg Hill and Principal Dr. Richard Jordan, and sing songs. In addition, police and firemen set off sirens for the kids, to their delight.

Alta Vista has celebrated character in other ways. Each classroom has a set of Six Pillar posters. “And we did handprints, yellow ones, for every kid in school,” Ms. Livingston says. “In the library, every kid’s hand is on the wall, pledging.”

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Triumph comes in more than one form, as the Antelope Valley Athletic Club knows. Not only has AVAC encouraged character in sports, through clinics and mentoring programs, but during CC! Week 2000 it presented two character awards (one for boys and one for girls) in its Summer Basketball League playoffs and championship. League coaches and parents nominated kids from each team who exemplified the Six Pillars, then coaches selected the winners. AVAC plans to continue the character awards program in all its leagues and clinics.

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• The Venice Community Housing Corp. (VCHC) is helping students at Mark Twain Middle School beautify their community with a Six Pillar mural, creatively using a Los Angeles County grant normally dedicated to graffiti abatement. Committed to providing low-income housing in the Los Angeles area, VCHC also runs a program to employ at-risk young people as ceramic artists. Called "Clay-Works," this three-year-old program recently received a $150,000 grant for its project at Mark Twain. As a CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition member, Mark Twain had a ready-made theme for its mural, which covers an outside wall with clay medallions designed by students in Cheryl Townsend’s seventh and eighth grade art classes. The medallions represent the students’ self-portraits and their favorite Six Pillar values. The students prepared themselves for their medallion-making by discussing the everyday applicability of the values in classic fables. At the end of the school year, when all the medallions were finished, students helped ClayWorks artists install the elaborate 2,000-square-foot mosaic.

• In the summer of 2000, while kids took a break from their studies, the city of Santa Clarita took adults to school. Over 250 parents participated in the third annual Parent University Conference and Workshops held in the northern Los Angeles County municipality, a CC! Coalition member. The one-day program provided parents with ideas to raise a child with good character and was run by the city’s department of parks, recreation, & community service. Marriage and family specialists discussed such topics as the impact of television on children, the long-term effects of bullying, "time-outs" for pre-schoolers, raising emotionally-intelligent children who can communicate their feelings, and using the Six Pillars in daily life.

• All 24 branches of the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA are integrating the Six Pillars into after-school, child-care and youth sports programs.

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Ground-breaking work with gangs and at-risk youth in special schools has spread to the entire school system in this central California county. Civic leaders have dedicated "Pillar Square" to underscore the community’s commitment to the Six Pillars of Character.

"It’s making a tremendous difference in the way the schools run," says John Forenti, whose full-time job is to coordinate CC! throughout the school system. The community has noticed, and is supportive. For instance, the local newspaper, the Visalia Times-Delta, runs front-page stories throughout the year profiling exemplary young people who embody one of the Six Pillars of Character. The program is run by the County Office of Education, which has carried the message to over 15 other California counties and facilitated the endorsement of CC! by the California Teachers Association and its nearly 300,000 members. Other local highlights include:

• The Six Pillars provide a common language for the curriculum of the Court/Community Schools, which serve over 550 at-risk teens who have been expelled from school or are on probation.

• Since October 1996 over 2,200 educators, parents and community members have attended CC! seminars in Tulare County.

• In October 1996 on "CHARACTER COUNTS! Day" at Sunkist Stadium in Visalia, over 100 students were honored as "Kids of Character" with 1,100 people present. This has become an annual tradition, with increasing numbers of young people receiving honors, and increasing numbers of residents attending ceremonies.

• The Friday Night Live Program uses CC! to reach out to 750,000 students with an anti-drug, -alcohol, -tobacco and -gang message.

• The Tulare County CC! program sponsors weekly features on a local TV station recognizing the area’s "kids of character."

• Read more on how CC! has affected Tulare's youth.:
  http://charactercounts.org/album/CA-htm/CalSide_Tulare_0700.htm

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