• Next Fundraising Campaign - Received a grant from Stowers Machinery to plan and implement "Pursuing Victory with Honor" program to involve the youth sports community.  Began plans for Mega event in Fall featuring coaches and officials to heighten CHARACTER COUNTS! awareness with volunteer coaches and adult who work with children in our community.
• April 2007, "Foundation for Life" Essay contest (grades 3-12) business supported and award dinner (250+ in attendance).  One of our local winners won the national contest in her grade level.
• Fall 2007 - Upcoming: CHARACTER COUNTS! of Knoxville/Knox County Presents: "Pursuing Victory with Honor"

2006

• March 2006, Parent training at Pleasant Ridge Elementary, Norwood and Pond Gap Elementary Schools.  Furnished pizza, babysitting, raffled off free TV's as incentives for parents to attend.
• Coalition recognition luncheon at St. Mary's Health Center - kids entertained, Mayor Ragsdale did a video on the importance of CHARACTER COUNTS!.
• June 2006, Hosted National CHARACTER COUNTS! trainer, Harold Slemmer from Arizona to speak at University of Tennessee. to 150 recreation league coaches and to meet with other local people involved in youth sports.  Mr. Slemmer spoke on "Pursuing Victory with Honor".
• August 2006, Michael Josephson comes back to town for five scheduled events in one and a half days; business breakfast, non-profit agencies meeting, teachers dinner, media and board meeting.

2005

• January 13, 2005, hosted a breakfast meeting at Club LeConte with thirty-seven influential community leaders in attendance.  We informed them about what CHARACTER COUNT! was about, our goals for 2005, invited them to join with us to support our efforts in making Knoxville a better place to live.  We also gained their opinion of what specific behaviors in the community needed the most improvement.  This information would then be shared at the March 8th Community Forum gathering.
• March 8, 2005 sixty-eight community leaders gathered at the Sarah Simpson Professional Technology Development Center to review statistics from the Knox County District Attorney's Office and the Knox Area Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, and to identify and prioritize twelve problem behaviors related to the Six Pillars of Character that our community will address during the coming school year.  A by-product of this meeting was the generation of a new group of people to join our local CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition to increase awareness of CHARACTER COUNTS! in Knoxville.
• A Character Development Seminar was held at St. Mary's Medical Center March 9-11, 2005 where thirty-two participants received training in teaching Character Education; the design of the workshop was fresh and innovative, recently developed by national CHARACTER COUNTS! staff and faculty.
• The first new Coalition meeting was held April 20, 2005 and it was decided to concentrate on one particular school and their community school zone.  The school chosen for this concentrated thrust was Northwest Middle School and the Northwest Middle School Zone.
• Coalition meetings in May and June 2005 helped clarify and bring focus to our common primary goal: work is in progress to get the leaders and representatives from all components of the community engaged in this effort to elevate the character in the children of Northwest Middle School.

2004

• Marty Iroff, Board Member and National Trainer for CHARACTER COUNTS! was asked to be a guest speaker for the State PTA Conference to be held in April of 2004 in Memphis, Tennessee.
• The Board selected six candidates to recruit to serve on the board.
• In the late summer work began on planning a Character Development Seminar for the spring of 2005.

2003

• Four mini-grants were awarded to two Middle Schools and two High Schools for creative ways to present the Six Pillars of Character. This is the first time High Schools have applied for this grant.
• Conducted training at East Knox Elementary School for teachers.
• Gave a workshop for the Parks and Recreation Center Workers/Managers State Conference on "Ethics in the Workplace".
• Held its Annual Coalition Meeting at Blue Grass Elementary School. Students K-5 from Blue Grass Elementary School gave an excellent presentation on "Charisma in Character".
• Member received additional instructor training in Los Angeles, CA from the National Office on CHARACTER COUNTS!
• Board Member made a presentation to the Farragut Senior Girl Scout Troop on the "Six Pillars".
• Board member served as guest speaker to the "Schooled for Success" summer intern program for eighth graders who go to work for a two week period at local businesses and presented "How Character Shows up in the Work Place".
• Led a workshop at the Teacher's Center to view on the web and to discuss other CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalitions in other states.
• Board members from the Coalition met with Kay Pettijohn, National CHARACTER COUNTS! training instructor after a workshop with Knox County teachers for a brainstorming session on improving our image in the community.
• Taught non-credit courses at the University of Tennessee on "Ethics in the Workplace" including employees who work at the Knoxville Utilities Board.
• Coach Award was presented to the youth football coach from Central High School.
• Operated a booth at the "Schooled for Success", which is an annual event for eighth graders and over 1,900 students participated. The booth was set up to provide a fun way for kids to think about the decisions they make and which pillar of character comes into play.
• A new CHARACTER COUNTS! logo was designed for the Knoxville/Knox County Coalition with help from Baptist Hospital to better express the image of our local coalition to reach all ages in the community.

2002

• Board member served as a judge for the East Tennessee Business Ethics Awards.
• Peggy Adkins, CHARACTER COUNTS! National Trainer put on a public training event, educators and non-profit organizational management personnel attended. The purpose of the event was to inform people of our initiative, make connections and to collaborate.
• Board member served as guest speaker to the "Schooled for Success" summer intern program for eighth graders who go to work for a two week period at local businesses and presented "How Character Shows up in the Work Place".
• Operated a booth at the "Schooled for Success", which is an event for eighth graders. The booth was set up to provide a fun way for kids to think about the decisions they make and which pillar of character comes into play.

2001

• Board member served as a judge for the East Tennessee Business Ethics Awards
• Distributed their local brochure to all Knox County elementary and middles school students in an effort to help parents understand one of the initiatives their child is involved in at school. It is also intended to help parents reinforce the Six Pillars of Character.
• A board member represented CHARACTER COUNTS! in Grandparents Day at the John T. O'Connor Senior Center.
• Developed a local brochure detailing the initiative, explaining the Six Pillars and providing national and local Contact Information.
• A board member spoke to the Farragut Middle School student assembly at the dedication of the CHARACTER COUNTS! garden.
• Coalition voted to change the by-laws to allow it to be governed by an 18-member board of directors. The Board continues to meet monthly to conduct business, share ideas and plan for future growth.
• Partnered with United Way of Greater Knoxville to obtain a part-time administrative assistant. The position is funded by a grant from the Lucille S. Thompson Family Foundation.

2000

• A training session was conducted at the fall conference for the Tennessee State Parks and Recreation Administrators. In addition, parents have been trained through local PTAs and P.T.O. s at local schools.
• As of October 2000 over 70 Knox County Schools had been trained in CHARACTER COUNTS! and have begun to implement the Six Pillars in their individual schools. Results have been dramatic in the area of student/teacher morale and reduced incidents of discipline.
• 2000 Knoxville was chosen as the site for the regional CHARACTER COUNTS! conference. More than 200 people from all over the Southeast attended to share information and ideas to expand the CHARACTER COUNTS! initiative in their respective communities. The local Coalition had the opportunity to spotlight the outstanding schools and other CHARACTER COUNTS! programs before the audience.
• We began the "Ethics in Business" program of CHARACTER COUNTS! Many businesses and professional groups are exploring how they can adopt the Six Pillars and reinforce what children are learning in school through their school-business partnerships and within their own business organizations.
• 2000 a two-day Character Education in Sports training session was held for coaches, athletic directors and sports officials. This group began to teach and model the Six Pillars of Character within the youth sports organizations throughout our community. Those participating included coaches from both middle and high schools, youth church leagues, local soccer and county recreation leagues, an NCAA referee director and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

1999

• The Knoxville YMCA committed to sponsor the Youth Character Awards in October of 1999 and 2000 in collaboration with the CHARACTER COUNTS! Awards Committee. These events were a CHARACTER COUNTS! community recognition ceremony held at the Knoxville Zoo. Local youth winners and outstanding adults and groups who exemplify and promote character were recognized at the events.
• The first Ethics in Business training was held in June 1999 with plans to involve the business community to reinforce the CHARACTER COUNTS! principles. The business committee is developing a pilot program using leading business institutions in the community.
• A local downtown church sponsored a weekly luncheon series for business people to teach the biblical basis for the Six Pillars. Over 200 attended each week.
• DARE officers with the Knoxville Police Department are trained and are using CHARACTER COUNTS! in their school programs.
• Five hundred fifty CHARACTER COUNTS! manuals were developed, printed and distributed to all public and private schools in Knox County in April 1999. This was made possible by a grant from Knoxville Utilities Board. These manuals are filled with suggestions and teaching ideas for CHARACTER COUNTS! programs.
• An advanced training session for elementary teachers was held in April 1999 to share ideas for implementation.
• The Coalition received a grant to purchase CHARACTER COUNTS! videotapes for every daycare and preschool in our county. These have been distributed to over 400 classrooms. A training session on how to implement CHARACTER COUNTS! in the daycare and preschool setting was held in May 1999.
• Pat Summitt, coach of the six-time National Champion Lady Vols, agreed to be our local spokesperson and has made seven PSAs in support of CHARACTER COUNTS! which have been aired on local TV and radio stations.
• A two-day training session was held for teachers, nonprofits, businesses and volunteers. One hundred and seven persons participated in this session.
• 10. Juvenile court officers, probation officers and many police officers have been trained in CHARACTER COUNTS! principles and curriculum has been written to begin a first offenders program through juvenile court.
• Around the community many nonprofits and youth services organizations, including the YMCA, Boy Scouts and United Way have incorporated the Six Pillars of Character into their existing programs.

1998

• The Knox County Board of Education unanimously endorsed CHARACTER COUNTS! and made it available to every school in Knox County. Requests for principal/teacher training exceeded expectations for the 1998 school year.
• The Downtown Rotary Club endorsed and financially supported CHARACTER COUNTS! by providing materials for classrooms in Knox County pilot schools and gave additional grants in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
• The attorneys who work with the high schools' Moot Court Program have been trained in CHARACTER COUNTS! and are using it in the high school program.
• The Knoxville Bar Association became the first bar association and bar foundation in the country to endorse and financially support a CHARACTER COUNTS! coalition. On October 30, 1998, 120 attorneys in Knox County participated in a CHARACTER COUNTS! training session, "CHARACTER COUNTS! In the Legal Profession."

1997

• Thirty-five community trainers were trained in November 1997 by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. Each agreed to take the CHARACTER COUNTS! message back to their own organizations, schools, businesses, nonprofits, government departments, etc. Each trainee agreed to train at least 50 additional people. This number was greatly exceeded.
• Three pilot schools were selected for the 1997-1998 school year: West High, Halls Middle and Norwood Elementary. Principals and three teachers from each school were trained in November 1997 and were responsible for training other teachers and implementing the Six Pillars of Character in their schools.
• The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition was chartered in July 1997 and the Leadership Council was formed.

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