The 22nd annual Conference on Character and Civic Education, presented by California State University, Fresno, will be held from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 28, at the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center’s Ernest Valdez Hall in downtown Fresno.

The Virtues and Character Recognition Awards to 15 exemplary local schools will be presented at 8 a.m. (2006 recipients attached).

Keynote speeches will be delivered by Dr. Hal Urban, a nationally-renowned character education expert; Jeff Cozad, Tulare County Teacher of the Year; and Jeanne Cox, Fresno County Special Education Teacher of the Year.

Participation in the conference, which is sponsored by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development and its Bonner Center for Character Education, is required of all Fresno State student teachers. This year, for the first time, Fresno Pacific University student teachers also will participate.

The event is the longest-running character education conference in the United States, according to Dr. Jacques Benninga, director Bonner Center for character Education and the conference co-chair. The awards program is the longest-running of its kind, too, celebrating 19 years.

Fresno State and Fresno Pacific professors also will present workshops, as will representatives of public agencies.

The conference provides prospective teachers with information on local civic agencies devoted to assisting children and families with life’s issues and teaches about ethical implications of professional educators.

Urban delivers the first keynote at 8 a.m. on “Powerful Words, Powerful Results.” He is a teacher of character education and recipient of the 2005 Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education presented by the Character Education Partnership of Washington, DC. Urban has written three books, including the best-selling “Life’s Greatest Lessons: 20 Things That Matter.”

Cozad and Cox will speak at 12:15 p.m.

Sponsors of the conference are the Kremen School, the Fresno County Office of Education, the Tulare County Office of Education, Educational Employees Credit Union, California Geographic Alliance (San Joaquin Valley) and the Bonner Family Foundation.

For more information, contact Benninga at 559.278.0253 or Jan Moosoolian, conference co-chair, at 559.278.0115.

The Virtues and Character Recognition Award 2006

22nd annual Conference on Character and Civic Education

Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center — Ernest Valdez Hall

Friday, April 28, 2006

Presented by California State University, Fresno:

Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Bonner Center for Character Education

2006 Recipients

Burton Elementary School (Burton Elementary) — Michelle Pengilly, Principal Centerville School (Sanger Unified) — Lisa Houston, Principal

Fancher Creek Elementary School (Clovis Unified) — Rosie Rivera-Borjas, Principal Francis J. White Learning Center (Woodlake Union) J. Terrence Keller, Principal James K. Polk Elementary School (Central Unified) — Karen Garlick, Principal Jefferson Elementary School (Sanger Unified) — Matt Navo, Principal

John S. Wash Elementary School (Sanger Unified) — Wesley Sever, Principal McKinley Elementary School (Central Unified) — Eliseo Cuellar, Principal Monte Vista Elementary School (Porterville Union) — Carol Woodley, Principal Oak Grove School (Burton Elementary) — Mick Bishop, Principal

Roosevelt Elementary School (Central Unified) — Danny Teevens, Principal River Bluff Elementary School (Central Unified) — Brett Wolfe, Principal Sanger Academy Charter School (Sanger Unified) — Ken Garcia, Principal Santa Fe Elementary School (Porterville Union) — Angel Valdez, Principal Vandalia Elementary School (Porterville Union) — Lissa Lambie, Principal