Sign up for the Character Education Updates to stay informed, and visit our Character Education Website for information on legislation, resources, and State Schools of Character.
UPDATE INCLUDES:
SPOTLIGHT ON CHARACTER
- February Character Challenge: #KindnessMattersNC
OPPORTUNITIES & AWARDS
- Institute on Global Perspectives: Infusing Character Education into Global Learning
- Laws of Life Essay Contest
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
- Character Education Professional Development Opportunities
- Webinars
- Honors Level Course Work
- Grants
INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS & RESOURCES
- 11 Principles of Character Revised Guidebook
- Professional Learning Opportunity: How to Integrate Character Education in ELA & Social Studies by Learning About the Holocaust
- On-Demand Professional Learning
- External Implementation Guide
February Character Challenge: #KindnessMattersNC
🌟 Embrace the spirit of kindness throughout February with our #KindnessMattersNC Challenge! Inspired by the heartwarming stories shared by Steve Hartman, this month-long initiative encourages teachers, leaders, students, and families to engage in daily acts of kindness. Whether integrated into morning meetings and content area classes, each day presents an opportunity for reflection, writing, and fostering a culture of compassion.
📝 Access daily videos and journal prompts to guide your reflections.
🗓️ Mark your calendars! Random Act of Kindness Day is celebrated on February 17 every year. We're extending the celebration throughout the month, making February dedicated to spreading kindness.
📸 Share your experiences on social media using the hashtag #KindnessMattersNC! Teachers and leaders are encouraged to spread positivity by showing how kindness has impacted the school or encouraging students to create their own kindness videos—just like Steve Hartman! Educators can submit evidence of school initiatives or student work to NCDPI using the link provided. Your submissions may be featured on our NCDPI social media, newsletters, and website. Also, be sure to share your experiences on your social media using the hashtag #CharacterMattersNC!
Let's celebrate February with kindness, compassion, and uplifting stories. Together, we can create a ripple effect of positivity that extends far beyond our classrooms.
#CharacterMattersNC
 Institute on Global Perspectives: Infusing Character Education into Global Learning
April 8, 2025
Join the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for the inaugural Institute on Global Perspectives: Infusing Character Education into Global Learning on April 9, 2025, at the Friday Institute in Raleigh, NC! This engaging, all-day professional development event is designed to provide educators with the tools and strategies to effectively integrate global perspectives and character education into their classrooms.
Consider submitting a proposal to present by February 7, 2025. For more information, follow Global Education on X/Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter listserv, and email us at ncglobaleducation@dpi.nc.gov.
By attending, you will discover how infusing global and character education:
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Prepares students to become ethical, empathetic, and culturally aware global leaders.
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Cultivates compassion, responsibility, and understanding within a global context, thus helping students appreciate diverse perspectives.
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Fosters inclusive classroom environments where respect and collaboration thrive across cultural and social boundaries.
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Broadens perspectives and empowers students to engage with global issues that encourage innovative and thoughtful decision-making and problem-solving.
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Empowers educators to enhance their teaching practices and inspire their students with ready-to-use resources and strategies
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Aligns to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, the NC Professional Teaching Standards, and the NC Portrait of a Graduate.
The Institute on Global Perspectives: Infusing Character Education into Global Learning will feature engaging workshops, expert speakers, and collaborative opportunities that deepen your understanding of how global learning and character development intersect to create impactful educational experiences. We look forward to seeing you on April 9, 2025!
Laws of Life Essay Contest
 The Laws of Life essay contest encourages middle school and high school students to reflect and write about a core value that means the most to them – and why.
• The program is available to all students in middle schools and high schools across the world.
• All essay writers will be recognized by Character.org. They will also recognize the most compelling essays and feature them on their website and social media channels.
Essays submissions are due Thursday, February 20, 2025 and can be submitted through this online form.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
The Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday is an official day of service and celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. MLK Day of Service is a defining moment each year when Americans across the country step up to make communities more equitable and take action to create the community of Dr. King’s dream.
Use this tipsheet to choose a project. Then, use the Kids in Action Guide (ages 5-12) or the Youth Changing the World Toolkit (ages 13+ and available in English and 8 other languages) to plan your project.
Find MLK Day of Service Project Ideas & Tips from AmeriCorps. (Also, watch the Project Ideas webinar below in the Resources & Trainings section.)
Resources for students and educators from The King Center:
Resources for students and educators from Youth Serve America Center:
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Youth Guide to the Global Goals
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Sparks Tipsheets: Lead an Arts Project, Lead a Sports Project, Lead a Reading Project, and Lead a Nature Project
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Be Fearless Be Kind Project Tipsheets – Environment, Poverty, Hunger, Literacy, Seniors
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Everyday Young Heroes Project Replication Guide Collection
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Issue-Specific Guides: Engaging a New Generation of Anti-Hunger Leaders (Childhood Hunger), We Stand Strong (Disaster Preparedness), Youth in the Driver Seat (Teen Driver Safety), and Health Heroes (Childhood Obesity).
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8 Ways to Stop Hunger
Would You Like To Learn More About Character Education?
Are you eager to create a culture of character in your classroom, school, and district using the 11 Principles of Character Education? NCDPI has professional learning opportunities to assist your school or district with your character education journey. If your school or district is interested in hosting a Character Education Professional Learning Opportunity, please take a moment to complete this survey to help our NCDPI team understand your needs. Contact Justyn Burgess, State Coordinator for Character Education, if you have questions.
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 Family Engagement to Support Reading Success: Evidence-Based Strategies at Work
February 6, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST
Schools and districts are a powerful resource for fostering at-home reading experiences that can support student reading gains outside the school day. Working with families to become collaborators, hear how one district leverages home reading to empower students and caregivers to read together. When we remove access barriers and place high-quality learning materials directly in the home, we make developing a habit of reading more likely.
Hear how one district used book choice and engaging discussion prompts to create reading momentum for consistent home practice and sustained learning gains. Attend this edWebinar to gain:
- Ready-to-use family and teacher activity packs to support home reading
- Text-based discussion prompts and activities that are adaptable to most school and classroom libraries
- Evidence-based strategies that are grounded in giving students book choices (paired with educator guidance), text-specific prompts, and a driving momentum for home reading habits
The Whole Child Approach: Aligning the Portrait of a Graduate with Character Education
March 5, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST
Join us for a webinar that explores the alignment between North Carolina's Portrait of a Graduate and the 11 Principles of Character Education. Discover how these two frameworks can work to cultivate well-rounded, ethical, and successful students prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.
- How the seven competencies of the Portrait of a Graduate (Adaptability, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Empathy, Learner's Mindset, and Personal Responsibility) intersect with the core principles of 11 character education
- Practical strategies for integrating the 11 principles of character education in your teaching practices while fostering the essential skills outlined in the Portrait of a Graduate
NCDPI Honors Level Coursework
Regional Professional Learning
In this session, participants will delve into the components of the new honors policy and learn how to evaluate current honors-level courses to ensure they meet the required depth and complexity. They will explore the Honors Level Course Development and Evaluation Tool and other resources while receiving guidance on policy implementation. Additionally, participants will deepen their knowledge of advanced learning indicators and engage with best-practice instructional strategies that support honors-level coursework.
Bring a team of 4-5 people who are involved with overseeing honors implementation in the district. Consider the roles of CAOs, Instructional coaches, high school principals and APs, lead teachers, etc. This PD is a “train-the-trainer” model.
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GRANTS
Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Youth Grants - Deadline: Jan. 26
Youth Serve America (YSA) is looking for the best ideas from young people about how they can provide immediate food aid to help end hunger today while also going beyond food aid to help ensure people are not hungry tomorrow. Grants of $500 will support youth leaders, ages 5-25, and their peers across the U.S. to turn their ideas into action and make an impact on the issue of childhood hunger during Global Youth Service Day 2025.
Learn More
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2025 MLK Corridor Community Grants - Deadline: February 16
Keep America Beautiful will provide grants to support communities in revitalizing, beautifying and transforming areas in and around MLK corridors and neighborhoods (streets, roadways, neighborhoods, community spaces, parks and other areas named after Martin Luther King Jr.) Cash grants will range between $5,000 – $20,000. These grants are open to Keep America Beautiful affiliates, nonprofits, local governments, and other community organizations.
Learn More
11 Principles Guidebook
Character.org has released the newly revised version of the 11 Principles Framework for Schools: A Guide to Cultivating a Culture of Character. The Guidebook explains each principle and key indicators, along with recent school-based examples.
Professional Learning Opportunity: How to Integrate Character Education in English Language Arts & Social Studies through Holocaust Education
Are you looking for ways to implement both Character Education and the Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act in ELA and Social Studies classrooms?
Learning about Character Education through the lens of the Holocaust allows students to build their character and develop skills like empathy and social awareness. In an effort to foster these skills, NCDPI partnered with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to create standards-based resources for implementation in secondary grades. These resources are based on using the texts Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel. The goal of the resources is for teachers to be able to embed both character education and Holocaust education seamlessly into the core curriculum.
Contact Thomas.Daugherty@dpi.nc.gov and Kelly.Schultz@dpi.nc.gov to set up a professional learning experience or to learn more about these resources and how they can be used in your classrooms.
On-Demand Professional Learning
Take advantage of recordings of NCDPI Character Education & Social-Emotional Learning on-demand webinars. Watch these recorded presentations to help you enhance your classroom experience and empower your students to become more empathetic, responsible, and caring citizens. These webinars will help you discover practical strategies to help your students regulate emotions, set goals, and demonstrate self-discipline. Character1 is the password for each On-Demand session.
Character Education
Leading With Character Improve the climate and culture of your school community based on the 11 principles of character education; Gain ideas and resources to improve school climate and culture from a state and national school of character; and understand the impact of character development on teachers, students, and overall school climate and culture
Intrinsic Motivation: Foster intrinsic motivation in students; develop a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to character education at your school
Integrate Social-Emotional Learning in Your Classroom
Self Management: Discover practical strategies to help your students regulate emotions, set goals, and demonstrate self-discipline.
Responsible Decision-Making: Discover strategies to empower your students to think critically, make ethical choices, and contribute positively to society.
Self and Social Awareness: Discover strategies to help your students develop a deep understanding of themselves and others, fostering empathy, emotional intelligence, and positive social interactions
Relationships Skills Discover strategies to help your students discover effective strategies to help your students cultivate strong interpersonal connections, communication skills, and conflict resolution
New External Implementation Guide
The External Implementation Guide is a repository for all North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSOS) stakeholders. This repository provides a variety of resources for supporting administrators, educators, and parents during the implementation of the Standard Course of Study for each content area. The range of resources offers users an opportunity to determine their own specific needs and find materials that suit them.
This Canvas repository can be accessed with or without a Canvas account. Browse through resources to help you learn, plan, instruct, review, and inform yourself or others.
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