Kathryn Otoshi is an award-winning San Francisco-based children's book author and illustrator. Her latest book, One ($16.95, KO Kids Books), is a story about bullying that teaches tolerance through imaginative use of colors and numbers.

During the day she works at director Robert Zemeckis's film company, Imagemovers Digital, which has produced such animated moves as Monster House and Polar Express. Before that, she was the graphic design art director for director George Lucas at Industrial Light & Magic.

With bullying being such an issue on school campuses, we asked Otoshi what she hopes kids, parents, and teachers will learn from the book, how images can instill character, and why a good children's book is like haiku.

Continue reading "It Just Takes One to Make Character Count" »

Do you have a comprehensive character-education program in place in your school or district? If you believe yours can serve as a model for others and would like $10,000 to help share your practices, consider applying for a Character Education Partnership (CEP) National School of Character Award.

The deadline for applications is December 8, but the earlier you start the more manageable the process will be. Visit the CEP site for details on how to apply and to read about last year’s recipients.

Producing detailed documentation on how your program works does require some effort, but the benefits of the application process are invaluable. In addition to being a terrific team-building exercise, it's a great opportunity to assess your program. Even if you don't win the $10,000 grant, you're bound to be surprised at how many good ideas and improvements come out of the process. All applicants also receive helpful feedback from CEP.

The application process requires:

• An application cover sheet printed out from the CEP website after you have entered your school or district information, signed by the principle or superintendant.
• A separate page detailing the demographics of the applying group, i.e. students and faculty, and other application information.
• A 7-page narrative that explains how your school or district’s character-education program exemplifies the Eleven Principles.
• A 25-page portfolio that provides supporting evidence for the narrative.
• A self-assessment score sheet that shows the results of your school or district’s self-assessment using the Quality Standards.

Only 10 public and private schools and districts (K-12) are awarded each year. See the CEP site for details on the award-winning programs.

In last year's Back-to-School edition of the Chronicle we highlighted the website of New York performance poet and teacher Taylor Mali. And in this issue's Commentary, Michael Josephson adaptation of Mali's poem "What Teachers Make."

Mali spent nine years in the classroom teaching English, history, and math and has performed and lectured for teachers around the world. His one-man show "Teacher! Teacher!" won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 U. S. Comedy Arts Festival.

One of the original spoken-word artists to appear on HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry," Mali is considered by many to be the most successful poetry slam strategist of all time, having led six of his seven national poetry slam teams to the finals and winning the
championship himself a record four times.

To inspire returning and new teachers for the year ahead, we asked Mali what students have taught him, about the miracle of education, and why all poets love geometry.

Continue reading "Teacher Inspiration Revisted: Taylor Mali Q&A" »

A recent report issued by the EPE Research Center revealed that the high school dropout rate could be as high as 50 percent in some states. That was no surprise to many. Slashed budgets, standardized testing, and changing priorities in federal education laws have turned classrooms into microcosms of the stress facing schools. No one would want to be in that kind of atmosphere if he or she had a choice.

Continue reading "America’s Dropout Dilemma: How to Turn Kids on to School" »

It is common practice to compare and contrast students in terms of academic ability by race and ethnicity. But what about morality?

Many schools are implementing character-education frameworks into their curriculum to meet "essential life skills" standards. To analyze their program's effectiveness and to receive funding for it, they need data. Too little info can hurt, but bad data can be worse.

Continue reading "Are You Culturally Competent to Teach Character?" »

The Industrial Revolution marked the birth of a new era in human history, an economic and social transformation driven by technology, manufacturing, and transportation. It sparked an age of innovation and invention and challenged the limits of human imagination. But at the same time, our young industrial society made reckless, self-serving choices without regard to the consequences to the environment.

And now, we have a mess on our hands.

Continue reading "Get Serious About Sustainability" »

The youth of Birmingham, Alabama are in for a surprise. Recently, representatives from local schools, businesses, and community organizations convened for one sole purpose: to spread character education throughout the community.

CHARACTER COUNTS! works best when it is ubiquitous. Kids learn about the Six Pillars of Character in the classroom, but it’s important that the message is reinforced in sports and after-school programs, in the home, and in the job market. Birmingham is determined to succeed.

Continue reading "Birmingham, AL - Character: A Community Affair" »