The Academy for Character Education at The Safe Colleges recently selected Commack Road Elementary School in the Islip School District as an Emerging School of Character. At CRES, whose motto “Y.E.S. AT CRES” stands for Take Care of Yourself, Take Care of Each Other, Take Care of Our School, sets the tone and reminds the school community what they truly value. Over the past ten years, the Character Education Committee and CRES have created curricular packets that include lesson plans, books, and articles for teachers to use to teach respect, responsibility, caring, honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, patriotism, and citizenship.