CHARACTER COUNTS!
It is not a requirement that the Foundation’s strategic partners call their own branded program, “Laws of Life,” hence the Character Counts! program at the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics has chosen the name “Foundations for Life” essay contest. “We are honored that Character Counts!, the nation’s premier character education program, has chosen to make ‘Foundations For Life,’ a cornerstone of their programming,” says Schwartz.

Supported by a $1 million grant, the vast Character Counts! network (see interview with Michael Josephson) is expanding the reach and impact of the “Laws of Life” essay contest. The Character Counts! network includes 6 million students around the country involved in character education, including tens of thousands of teachers, coaches and youth managers.

The philosophy behind “Foundations for Life” is to spur the development of personal responsibility and other core ethical virtues in students by introducing them to enduring insights about life and broadening their exposure to wisdom from literature, philosophy and religion, as well as help educators teach young people how to understand and apply profound truths in the form of maxims.

Started in 2004, the estimated number of essays written for school year 2005-2006 is 250,000 with this number expected to double in 2006-2007. Additionally, many more students are being impacted than measured simply by the actual number of essays written. The maxims from the contest are being used as focal points in classroom discussions and for art projects. “Foundations for Life” is also being promoted as an academic supplement for writing assignments in classroom activities.
www.charactercounts.org

ROTARIANS
With 1.2 million members worldwide, the Rotarians represent an important and necessary force providing humanitarian service, encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations and building goodwill and peace. With 31,000 Rotary clubs located in 167 countries it is truly a worldwide organization.

In accordance with Sir John Templeton’s wish to see as many children as possible write “Laws of Life” essays, Amy Butler and Marge Brennan promoted the program at the Rotary International Conference in June 2005 in Chicago. Over 35,000 people attended the conference. The goal was to sign up as many Rotary clubs as possible to bring the “Laws of Life” Essay Contest into their communities. The Foundation staff who attended the international conference returned to their offices so excited about the opportunity to launch new contests around the world via the growing partnership with Rotary International. Since then, the Foundation has been in conversations with the leaders of Rotary to expand this partnership so that every Rotary club in the world will one day run a “Laws of Life” essay contest.