We adopted Character Counts! as our character education program several years ago in order to promote positive interactions among students at our school, I wholeheartedly believe in this program and enforce it on a daily basis through the use of Ron Clark's, The Essential 55. Students are recognized on a daily basis for their actions by earning badges for their dog tags, as well as earning Rufus, which allows a student to participate in a variety of activities (run errands, help the teacher, etc.) that day. At the end of each quarter, one student is recognized at our awards assembly for displaying positive actions based on all of the six pillars. Every month, one student is selected that demonstrates appropriate behavior for a specific trait. The six pillars of Character Counts are: Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. For more information on each of the pillars that encompass this program, please visit www.charactercounts.org.