July 3, 2025
Participants in the PRIMED Institute in Character Education applaud at the end of a character exercise. The institute, an annual event for the past two decades, was held June 23–27 on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus. The five-day gathering provides an intensive overview of the PRIMED framework of character education and the virtues of servant leadership. It is designed for school leadership teams and other educators from schools committed to fostering character development in students, ranging from preschool to higher education.
The institute was led by Marvin Berkowitz, co-director of the Center for Character and Citizenship at UMSL, and Amy Johnston, an instructor in the UMSL College of Education and consultant to CharacterPlus and Character.org. In 2008, under Johnston’s leadership, Francis Howell Middle School was named a National School of Character. This year’s participants came from across the country – Colorado and Tennessee – and from countries across the globe such as Mexico and Spain. This photograph was taken by UMSL photographer Derik Holtmann and is the latest to be featured in Eye on UMSL.
