"Queens Interlocking" 6.4375" ........................................................................................................This advertisement www.mta.info In addition to being named a New York State School of Character earlier this year, Babylon Memorial Grade School was chosen as a finalist in the National Character Award program and recently emerged as one of 11 National Schools of Character. The award was bestowed upon the school as a result of a comprehensive application process and is provided through the Character Education Partnership (CEP), an organization based in Washington D.C.

According to the organization, this was a recordsetting year for the prestigious national awards program. "We received 149 applications from 27 states, the highest number of applications ever, and the strength of the applications surpassed that of any other year," said CEP Executive Director Joe Mazzola.

As a winner, Babylon will receive $20,000 at the

10.5"

15th Annual National Forum on Character Education ......................................................

to be held .Oct. 17 to 19 , in Arlington, Virginia. The

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funds are to be applied toward enhancing the school's advertisement prepared by

program to train and mentor other educators seeking to

improve their character education efforts.

"While it has never been our goal to win an award, it is so uplifting for the Grade School community to gain significant recognition for pursuing character education as a priority. It is our fundamental belief that character matters and that we can and should help grow character in a school setting," stated Principal Eric Freidman. "I thank the Character Education Partnership in Washington, D.C. for getting us started six years ago. We continue on this gratifying journey with pride."