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.

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.