The Character Education Partnership Welcomes Nicholas Kristof and John Engler as Keynote Speakers

WASHINGTON - Oct. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- Washington, D.C. – September xx, 2014 – The Character Education Partnership (CEP), a national advocate and leader for the character education movement, is pleased to announce that New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Nicholas Kristof and former Michigan Governor, John Engler will keynote its 21st annual National Forum on Character Education and first “Call to Character Gala’ “The events will take place Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2014 in Washington, DC.

The National Forum on Character Education is a two-day event full of thought-provoking breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and inspiring talks from many thought leaders in character education. Other keynote speakers include Eduardo Briceño, co-founder and CEO of Mindset Works, Barbara Gruener, counselor and character coach at Friendswood Independent School District, and Mary Gordon, founder and president of Roots of Empathy. Also, CEP will showcase a new video titled “Reclaiming Our Schools of Character’.”

Mr. Kristof has been a columnist for The New York Times since 2001 and is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who writes op-ed columns that appear twice a week. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and then studied law at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. In 1990 he and his wife won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Mr. Kristof won a second Pulitzer in 2006.

In addition, CEP will host its first “Call to Character Gala” which will culminate the National Forum on Character Education on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 6:30 – 9:30 pm at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC. The gala will address the important issues of “Character Beyond the Classroom” and will feature former Michigan governor John Engler, who is president of the Business Roundtable, as the evening’s keynote speaker.

Teachers, school administrators, parents, and character education enthusiasts are encouraged to register online. Attendees are sure to be recharged, re-inspired and recommitted to their work by attending this conference.

“We are humbled and thrilled to have many noted presenters including Mr. Kristof and Mr. Engler to inspire and empower our educators and community leaders during the National Forum on Character Education and Call to Character Gala,” said Becky Sipos, CEP’s CEO. “During these events, CEP looks forward to highlighting the many advancements in character education to the hundreds of anticipated attendees. We believe this year’s events will make this year’s National Forum on Character Education one of the best in its 21 years of operation.”

In addition to the event program, and many break-out sessions, CEP will also honor its 2014 National Schools of Character that were announced in May. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, honored the 2014 winners in this video.

Character Education Partnership is a national advocate and leader for character in education. Based in Washington, DC, it is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation’s public, private and charter schools. It provides vision, leadership and resources for school, families and communities to develop ethical future-adults committed to building a just and caring world. For more information about how schools can improve through high-quality character education, visit character.org. Engage CEP on Facebook: ttp://facebook.com/charactereducationpartnership