Each year in October, California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction and President of the State Board of Education emphasize the importance of teaching character education to our students by declaring Character Education Month. The following quote is excerpted from Elementary Makes the Grade! (CDE, 1999) to emphasize and explain these efforts: "Effective schools seek to develop and reinforce character traits, such as caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness, through a systematic approach that includes adult modeling, curriculum integration, a positive school climate, and access to comprehensive guidance and counseling services." Tonight we proclaim October as American Character Education Month.