The 34th annual Conference on Character and Civic Education, hosted by Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development, is being held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, March 9, at the Fresno Convention Center’s Exhibit Hall.

It is the longest running character education conference in the U.S. and is designed for students in the teacher education credential programs at both Fresno State and Fresno Pacific University. The conference is intended to provide hundreds of student teachers with important concepts and considerations related to the ethical implications of what teachers do as professional educators. The student teachers will be provided with information on local civic agencies that assist children and families with life issues.

They will also be presented with ethical issues facing today’s teachers and will be provided with professionally appropriate ways of dealing with those issues and with strategies to enhance character strengths in their students.

At 8:30 a.m., keynote speaker Dr. Hal Urban will be speaking about his book, “Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do.” Urban was the recipient of the Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education and he was a teacher for 36 years at high schools and at his alma mater, the University of San Francisco. He has authored six books, all of which have an emphasis on good character.

Following Urban’s keynote speech is the Exemplary Schools Recognition Awards Ceremony. Awards will be given to 33 Central Valley elementary schools of character. Each elementary school can bring representatives (both leadership and children) to the conference. The schools being recognized and honored are listed below:

Biola-Pershing Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Cedarwood Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Clay Elementary School
Clay Joint School District

Clovis Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Cole Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Dailey Elementary Charter School
Fresno Unified Board of Trustees

Eric White Elementary School
Selma Unified School District

Fairmont Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

Frontier Elementary School
Pioneer Union Elementary School District

Gettysburg Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Hanh Phan Tilley Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Jackson Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

James K. Polk Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Jefferson Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

Liberty Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Lincoln Elementary School
Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District

Lincoln Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

Lone Star Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

Madison Elementary School
Sanger Unified School District

Madison Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Maple Creek Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

McKinley Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Pinedale Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Quail Lake Environmental Charter School
Sanger Unified School District

River Bluff Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Sanger Academy Charter School
Sanger Unified School District

Starr Elementary School
Fresno Unified School District

Sundale Elementary School
Sundale Union Elementary School District

Teague Elementary School
Central Unified School District

Valley Oak Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Virginia R. Boris Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

Weldon Elementary School
Clovis Unified School District

William Saroyan Elementary School
Central Unified School District

The conference will also include 25 breakout sessions on professional ethics and decision-making, as well as recognition of exemplary teachers from Fresno and Kings counties. The Fresno County Office of Education’s 2017 Teacher of the Year is Ellen Youssef of Miramonte Elementary School, and the Kings County Office of Education’s 2017 Teacher of the Year is Mario Gonzalez of Lemoore High School.

For more information, contact Dr. Jacques Benninga at 559.696.9741 or jackb@csufresno.edu.