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What are CHARACTER COUNTS! and the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition?

The CHARACTER COUNTS! (CC!) Coalition consists of more than 600 youth service organizations (including Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc.) and thousands of their respective schools and chapters. These organizations are committed to integrating character education into their new or existing programs and to encouraging young people and their parents/guardians to make decisions that are based on the Six Pillars of Character.

Who is behind CHARACTER COUNTS!?

The Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics is a nonprofit organization established in 1987 in Los Angeles, California. CC! was established in 1993 subsequent to a convening of leaders from the fields of ethics and education in Aspen, Colorado, for the purpose of identifying “common language and goals” specific to character education. The CC! Coalition derived from this Aspen Summit and is guided by a volunteer Leadership Council and Advisory Council.

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CHARACTER COUNTS! & Sigma Nu Fraternity

How is Sigma Nu Involved?

In the summer of 2004, Sigma Nu reaffirmed its membership in the CC! Coalition. Chapters are asked to sponsor a Foundations for Life Contest at the local level. Upon identifying a local winner, Sigma Nu chapters are asked to submit the winning essay to Sigma Nu Headquarters so that the winning essay may be entered into the National Sigma Nu Foundations for Life Contest.

It just makes sense to help young people choose between right and wrong... in the classroom, living room, or locker room. This is especially true today when youth are faced with numerous conflicting messages and controversial role models. The commitment of adults to be models of good character and to spend time with young people can make a difference.

What is the Foundations for Life Essay Contest?

It is a quotation-based discussion and writing program that provides youth (3rd through 12th grades) with an opportunity to enhance their critical thinking and writing skills while simultaneously reinforcing character building. The program introduces students to profound and enduring truths about life and broadens their exposure to wisdom from literature, history, and philosophy. Students are encouraged to reflect on the provided quotations, express the values that the quotations bring to mind, and commit to living up to those values. The process helps students prepare for the standardized tests used to satisfy No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements, practice for the essay-writing portions of the SAT and ACT exams, and develop ethical values, positive attitudes and healthy habits. It also provides them with opportunities to compete in the National Sigma Nu Foundations for Life Contest and the National Foundations for Life Contest. The program is a national initiative of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and CHARACTER COUNTS! It is adapted from the John Templeton Foundation's Laws of Life contest and is offered free of charge to schools and organizations thanks to the generosity of the Foundation.

How your Chapter can make a difference?

Partnering with the Foundations for Life program as part of your chapter's Helping Hand Initiative commitment will provide your chapter with the chance to work with high school students from your local community. This partnership provides a mutual benefit... the community benefits from the time and interaction offered by your chapter members, and the chapter benefits from the opportunity to impact the lives of students who may soon be university students. The public relations that result from the partnership are also a win-win!

Getting your Chapter involved and implementing Foundations for Life

Getting involved with CHARACTER COUNTS! Foundations for Life contest is easy. All you have to do is follow these simple steps.

1. Make a decision to sponsor a Foundations for Life essay contest and open it up to local area high school students.
   
2. Fill out the Chapter Commitment Form (Committing to the Helping Hand).
   
3. Shortly after making the commitment, your chapter will be contacted by a Foundations for Life representative and will receive contest materials and information on how to run the contest from CHARACTER COUNTS!.
   
4. Host a Foundations for Life essay contest complete with an awards reception for the contest winners. The chapter should establish a submission date of March 17, or earlier, to ensure that the winning essay may be eligible to be entered into the National Sigma Nu Foundations for Life Contest and the National CHARACTER COUNTS! Foundations for Life Contest.
   
5. Submit a list of contestant names entered in the chapter's Foundations for Life Contest to Sigma Nu Headquarters by March 17 via email to helping.hand@sigmanu.org to ensure that the winning essay will be eligible for national consideration.
   
6. Submit the winning essay, and a short bio on the essay's author, to Sigma Nu Headquarters, by May 16, 2009, by reporting your Event Results. Each chapter-sponsored contest winner's essay will then be entered into the National Sigma Nu Foundations for Life Contest and the National CHARACTER COUNTS! Foundations for Life Contest. It is important to note that in order for an essay to be entered into the national contests, this deadline must be met.
   
7. Hold an awards reception for the winner(s) of the chapter-sponsored contest. It is up to the chapter to determine the prize for the winners.

Ideas for Implementing Foundations for Life

• Flyers with participation criteria can be posted on school bulletin boards and in youth serving organizations (YMCA's, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc.), ads can be placed in local papers, and local radio stations can be asked to make announcements. Those students interested would contact a representative from the Chapter to obtain copies of the quotes and the specific criteria for submission of the essays.
  
• Chapter members can work directly with local area high schools to implement the Foundations for Life program during a “free period” or other timeframe allocated by the school (perhaps as part of an English class or Social Science class). Sigma Nu volunteers from the chapter would introduce the program, distribute copies of the quotes, and could:
  • Work with students on the essay writing aspect of the program for the purpose of submitting those essays in to the national Sigma Nu contest, and/or
  • Facilitate discussion with groups of students regarding the quotes, the quotes' meaning in relation to the students' lives and the world today, and the authors of the quotes (who they are and the context of the time and society when the quote was made).
  • Be creative, Chapters can create their own contest or program embracing the Foundations for Life program. The only criteria is that the name Foundations for Life is included and that essays submitted to the contest be based on the provided quotes and are limited to 1,000 words.

To learn more about Foundations for Life go to their website at www.ffl-essays.org.