Monday, 7/19/10
We're approaching many milestones in our family. Tami (my amazing wife) and I will celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary on July 31st, and my sons Jack and Max will celebrate birthdays within a week of that. I'm setting up my speaking and seminar calendar for 2010-2011 and working as a school board member to deal with unprecedented budget challenges for our schools. I keep thinking about how quickly time passes and wondering what summer 2011 might bring.

In church yesterday Darrell, our minister, was talking about the importance of priorities and avoiding allowing things to take precedence over God. It's easy to see that in the sprint through life we may be distracted from what's most important. Today I'm hoping I'll be able to plan for a year of service that keeps my priorities in order. If you have thoughts about that, I hope you'll click here to drop me a note!

Sunday, 5/23/10
Okay, so it has been nearly a year since I actually made a blog entry here. I could say I've been busy, which I have, but no one is really that busy, right? I'm writing today with hopes that (1) I'll call attention to my new Character Spotlight feature (which recognizes good character in the news) and (2) I'll actually do a better job of making regular entries. Wish me luck!

Saturday, 6/6/09
I am excited to be able to say that my web site now appears among the links listed on the Character Education Partnership's links page. CEP is one of the most highly regarded organizations working to advance character in our country, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to have my site referenced there as Building Character in Youth. Thanks!

Friday, 6/5/09
I want to give a glowing congratulations to the students, teachers, parents, and other family members who accompanied the Villa Grove band and choir students on their trip to Orlando, where they performed in Downtown Disney. The students were fantastic ambassadors for their school and should be proud of the way they conducted themselves. Their performances earned rousing waves of applause and cheers not only from Villa Grove audience members, but also from those who happened to be passing by and stopped to take in the shows. Students displayed character throughout their trip and deserve credit for demonstrating that today's teens have the potential to conduct themselves with class. Good job to all!.

Wednesday, 4/8/09
I completed a major renovation of my web site in December 2008 and am finally settling in to this design. That probably means it's about time to change again, right? I decided to include a blog, but haven't taken the time till now to get it going. Perhaps my motivation comes from a new opportunity for service in my life, as yesterday I was elected to the Villa Grove Board of Education. We have a great school, and I'm looking forward to doing what I can to help it continue striving to be a fantastic place for students and teachers.

The picture you see on the left is me running in a 5-mile trail run in May 2008. It was a muddy day, so I'm afraid my legs look a little messy. I decided to use this image because I had included it before on a fundraising site I had developed for our local school's music boosters, Villa Grove Friends of Music. My son Max, who is finishing his 8th grade year, will get to perform at Disney World later this spring, and I ran the Columbus Marathon last October as a way to help raise money to cover the cost of charter buses for the trip.

Anyway, I invite you any time to drop me a note to let me know what you think of this site. I hope you'll take a few minutes to look around. One of the most exciting aspects of the site is that I'm hoping to build it as a central location for all character-related information on the web. I've included a few web sites to get things going under the Programs & Resources link and will add to them steadily. Please send me your suggestions of additions. I'm also planning to gather information on grant sources and research, making this site what I hope will become your first stop any time you're looking for character ideas, resources, or programs. Check back soon and see what comes next. Thanks for stopping by!