Hamilton Town Crier Ed Christopher had something special to announce yesterday at West End Primary School: a celebration of the positive by students and teachers.

The youth ethics initiative, called Character Counts, honours six traits — trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Along with school principal Sandra Smith and teachers Norma-Jean Richardson and Yolanda Basden, Mr Christopher proclaimed the virtues of the character-building programme, created by the Josephson Institute in the US.