On Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11, 2010 an initiative that crystallized the importance of renewing character education took place for over 1,000 students of Fort Lee High School in Bergen County, New Jersey.

The recent suicide of fifteen-year-old Phoebe Prince from South Hadley High School in Massachusetts, who was mercilessly bullied for months, reminds us that bullying can have deadly consequences. It is not an acceptable rite of passage for American youth, but it is cruel, destructive and as tragically realized in this student's story, it can be lethal.

According to a published report in The Columbus Dispatch, a wrong birth date might have concealed that Nathaniel Brown, a custodian who killed his supervisor, shot and wounded another boss before shooting himself to death on March 9, 2010 had a criminal record. The report stated that he did 5 years of prison time for receiving stolen property but this was missed in the pre-employment background check.

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, I was privileged to present a two-hour program titled Educators: Reawakening the Heart of the Nation through our Schools to 150 educators at a leadership conference weekend organized through a partnership of the Bergen County Education Association and Passaic County Education Association.

On Monday, January 18, 2010, Northern Highlands Regional High School held a professional development day for 150 of its faculty, administrators and staff members. The goal of the event was to serve as the launching pad for the school's dedication to becoming a National Model of Character.

Bernard Kerik, former NYPD Police Commissioner, was sentenced on February 18, 2010 to four years in federal prison and must surrender on May 17th. He is the first commissioner in over 100 years to be found guilty of corruption.

As we approach the third anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy and the eleventh anniversary of the Columbine High School tragedy on April 16th and 20th, respectively, we must pause to reverently remember those who lost their lives, and all adversely affected by the tragedies, especially family members. These anniversaries must be prayerful experiences not only at Virginia Tech and Columbine, but in schools and communities throughout the nation.

On Friday, February 12, 2010-Abraham Lincoln's birthday-the New Jersey Field Office of the FBI hosted a Black History Month event titled The History of Black Economic Empowerment. It was held in the Barry Lee Bush Building, FBI headquarters in Newark.

As an invited guest of the FBI, I was impressed by the program which celebrated diversity, history and patriotism through music, presentations and community.

On Monday, March 22, 2010, the New Jersey Alliance for Social-Emotional and Character Development held its third annual conference at the Rutgers University-Busch Campus Center in Piscataway. The event was titled Making The Links: Achievement With Integrity and was sponsored by the Center for Social and Character Development at Rutgers University, Educational Information & Resource Center and the New Jersey Education Association.