October is a big month in many schools: it’s the month when many schools turn to anti-drug education, celebrating “Red Ribbon Week” in some schools where students are reminded why they need to say no to drugs and make healthy choices.
But in recent years other themes have caught on as well, too. In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, many schools have hammered-home anti-bullying messages in both education and school assemblies (shows) held for students.
Yet another big topic that is getting increasing attention: the importance of character education. One of the most popular programs is Character Counts.
Here’s a news story about how the Merced, California school district is making a BIG push on character education — a story that mentions someone who is very close to me.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.