Baraquio, the reigning Miss America from Hawaii, is promoting character education as her platform during her reign and has appeared all over the country in support of such initiatives. Baraquio has a Bachelors Degree in elementary education, is a former physical education teacher and is planning to return to school after her reign to pursue a Masters Degree in education administration. Etheridge enlisted Baraquio's support for his legislation and invited her to North Carolina to promote character education and observe first hand North Carolina's efforts in this regard. Ms. Baraquio and I share the belief that emphasizing respect, responsibility, integrity and good citizenship will make our schools safer and more productive while preparing our students to become good citizens. Character education works because it teaches our children to view the world through a moral lens.
Character counts in life, and it counts in our schools as well.
As Miss America, I am encouraging educators, parents and students to make character education an integral element of their school's culture and curriculum. I am specifically challenging educators to join me, while speaking out as their peer and advocate for better compensation and treatment. Educators must be recognized for the significant role they play in developing values and ethics among youth. Etheridge and Wamp introduced their legislation in January and have called on President Bush for his support. Etheridge held a youth violence summit in Raleigh last month where character education emerged as a consensus item among the participants as an effective tool in reducing youth violence.