Good character is formed over a lifetime. At a recent Ashland (Oregon) School board Meeting, board members were well-reminded of this fact as they were led through a series of mindfulness exercises by local 4th-grade students.

Students at Cleveland’s Fairview High School are clamoring to join the pilot character education program “Because I said I would,” which aims to increase volunteerism by encouraging participants to keep their word.

In Fulton, Illinois each homeroom at River Bend Middle School received $100 to give back to the community. The only catch is that it had to have a personal connection to students.

"Restorative justice" practices have reduced school suspensions, but also have resulted in unpunished bad behavior, said the president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. The school superintendent, however, wants to address discipline problems at the "root cause," and not take students out of class for minor offenses, The Buffalo News reports.

The use of nonstop social media among middle school students, along with illegal drugs and alcohol, represents the major danger to youth, a Connecticut school resource officer said.

Medical students are busy people. Wake Forest medical student Kwone Ingram uses some of his precious time to mentor minority boys in a local elementary school and to help place mentors where they are needed through a non-profit he founded.

Indy Millennium Soccer players know they are "sons first, students second, and then, players—in that order." Those priorities have made them among the best in Indiana two years running, WTHR reports.

A New Jersey middle school student went from getting D's and F's to getting A's with the help of a writing mentor.

A nine-year-old in York, PA, was moved to compassion when he saw a YouTube video of a homeless boy in freezing weather, and he was motivated to take action.

Social and emotional learning (SEL), a fast-growing movement in education that seeks to support students in areas apart from academics, has reached the Worcester (Massachusetts) school district, telegram.com reported.