In Illinois, celebrations for CHARACTER COUNTS! Week 2004 (Oct. 17-23) included:

Round Lake Area

The mayors of the five Round Lake Area villages and the board of trustees of the Village of Round Lake Park both issued proclamations declaring CC! Week 2004. The Round Lake Exchange Club also hosted a chili supper on September 18 as an early kickoff to CC! Week, with activities and contests based on CC!. The event honored first responders with a free meal, which "got a very positive response," according to Round Lake Park Mayor Ila Bauer. Schools provided the entertainment and CC! "bumper stickers," "bookmarks" and pictures adorned the walls. Local coordinators will make bumper stickers from the first-place design and sell them as a fundraiser. "It was a great event and we plan to do it again next year," said Mayor Bauer.

Ottawa

The town of Ottawa, 83 miles southwest of Chicago, celebrated CC! Week with a host of activities:

• The City of Ottawa proclaimed National CC! Week.

• A radio station broadcast information about the Ottawa CC! Coalition.

• An article appeared about CC! explaining its nature and how to join.

• The Coalition made a presentation to the Kiwanis and the superintendent.

• The library displayed books on character and people who have stood for it.

• The YMCA passed out sports character cards to participants.

• CC! representatives appeared in two homecoming parades of two high schools, both of which have implemented CC!.

• Several grade schools obtained grocery bags, drew CC! pictures on them and returned them to the markets to pass out to customers.

• Ottawa High held a bumper sticker contest.

Schaumburg

CC! Week at Thomas Dooley Elementary began with an assembly where 10 volunteers performed two CC! plays for the entire school. Later, the six grade levels each choral read one of the Six Pillars for the entire student body. Students also discussed real-life examples of persons using the Pillars. 

To show even more support for CC!, kids wore a distinctive color each day: red on Monday, orange Tuesday, yellow Wednesday, green Thursday, and blue Friday. During lunch on Tuesday the older students hosted a brief CC!-based art contest for the school and awarded first, second, and third place prizes. All the art pieces went into a book placed in the school library. At lunch on Thursday, a basketball free-throw contest took place for the primary and intermediate grades, and every participant received a CC! memento. 

"Overall, our CHARACTER COUNTS! celebration at Dooley was a success," said coordinator Sheri Kopala. "We continue practicing the Six Pillars daily! What a wonderful way to build community within your school!"

Bloomingdale

The Bloomingdale CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition sponsored a charity walk and a celebration program on Tuesday, October 19, in Bloomingdale's Old Town Pavilion. The evening event included: 

• a charity walk

• a charity presentation

• bestowal of Youth Character Awards

• entertainment by Bloomingdale youth groups

Prior to the event, the Coalition selected a charity through an essay contest, with entries submitted by students in grades 3-8. Proceeds from the walk went to the charity.

Henry

"You're a Winner When Your Character Counts!" was the CC! Week motto at the Henry-Senachwine Grade School, where students and staff members participated in numerous events. Because the Olympics had recently taken place, the activities had an Olympic cast. They included:

Sunday: Family Day!
Spend time with your family. Whether playing a game, working outdoors or sitting down for a chat, participating students enjoyed the day with their families.

Monday: Chain of Character and Pledge Day
Each staff member wore a red t-shirt reading "Henry CHARACTER COUNTS!" to kick off the week. Participants felt the t-shirts were a great success, and an excellent way to show students that the staff members were committed to good character as well.

The kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms participated in making a Chain of Character to hang throughout the school. Each link in the chain was a strip of paper in one of the Six Pillar colors. The Chain of Character hung throughout the school during the whole week.

Tuesday: Totally TeRRiFiCC Tuesday: Team Up in P.E.
The physical education teachers played a large role in the success of Totally TeRRiFiCC Tuesday. Throughout the day, teachers in P.E. class gave gold medals to students for actively participating and working as a team. The students wore the medals throughout the day -- and some even wore them throughout the week.

Wednesday: Red Ribbon Day: Your Choices Count!
The school hung a 24-foot banner in the main hallway at the beginning of the week, and it read: “Hand in Hand, We Stand for A Drug Free Land.” This banner helped the school celebrate Red Ribbon Day. Throughout the week, the art teacher took time out of each class to have the students stamp handprints on the banner, using the colors of the Six Pillars. The young people really enjoyed this activity. While walking through the hallway, one could hear them talking about it -- and see them pointing out their own hand stamps. Everyone in the school took part, and it was such a success that the banner remained hanging months afterward.

In addition, several students from grades 4-8 participated in a poster-making activity and hung the posters on Red Ribbon Day. The students worked in teams to come up with logos and designs for their posters.

Thursday: Wear Your Six Pillar Colors
Students and staff members wore one of the six colors (blue, yellow, green, orange, red or purple) to represent the Pillars.

Friday: Community Counts Day, a day of community service
School did not convene on Friday, so it was a great opportunity for students to get out into the community and help others.

Saturday: Make a Difference in Your Community!
This was a day to help others. Whether the students went next door to assist neighbors, read a book to a sibling or helped their parents fix dinner, they helped others help themselves.

Throughout the Week:
To promote a winning attitude, the school had several local heroes welcome the students into the school each day. On Monday morning, the local police were there to greet the students. On Tuesday, the fire department came by, on Wednesday the emergency medical squad met students at the door, and on Thursday, individuals who served in the armed forces welcomed the kids.

Each day, if a student was caught promoting CC!, he or she received a slip of paper to sign. It went into a basket at the end of the day. There were three baskets -- for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. At the end of each day, a name was drawn from each of the baskets and announced over the loudspeaker. The K-2 and 3-5 winners got a t-shirt and the 6-8 winner received an object for the locker (such as a mirror or magnetic pen). The students proudly displayed their prizes, as they hung their prizes in their lockers and wore the t-shirts each day.

Lombard

The Lombard CC! Coalition hosted the 2nd Annual CHARACTER COUNTS! Family Fun Night on October 20. Many local agencies came together to sponsor activities for all members of the Lombard community. The event took place at Glenbard East High School and included:

• a carnival for elementary school students, sponsored by the Glenn Westlake Middle School Student Leadership Team

• a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, sponsored by Glenbard East High School

• a silent auction of flower boxes and bird houses decorated by various community groups food vendors, all members of the Chamber of Commerce

• musical entertainment by high school and middle school ensembles

• an information table about volunteer opportunities available in Lombard

In addition, the Lombardian newspaper sponsored an essay contest, open to all Lombard students, entitled "Someone I Know Who Has Shown Me That Character Counts." The Six Pillars of Character were the basis for judging, and there were four categories by grade: K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and high school. Each first place winner received a $50 savings bond.