We are thrilled to announce the 2026 winners! Congratulations to all recipients on this well-deserved recognition.
Welcome to the Seed of Love: Character Education Lesson Plan Competition! This exciting event challenges participants to create engaging and effective lesson plans that promote character development.
Character Education is a whole-person approach to ensure personal and communal well-being and can include teaching good character, prosocial skills, citizenship awareness, or all of the above.
We invite aspiring teachers in the United States—whether they are pursuing an education degree or completing teacher preparation programs—to incorporate a focus on Character Education into their lesson planning and compete in the “Rising Teachers” group. We also welcome education volunteers and teachers from South Africa, Mozambique, Turkey, Mexico, and the Philippines to join and contribute to this initiative by competing in the “Character Education Advocates” group. You will receive an email after completing registration to confirm your group assignment.
The topic of the year is “Thankfulness.” We invite you to create a lesson plan focusing on teaching thankfulness as the primary goal. You are welcome to integrate the value of thankfulness into a specific subject. We encourage you to include interactive activities, multimedia resources, and real-world scenarios in the lesson to promote active learning. Strive to showcase your creativity, expertise, and ability to engage learners meaningfully.
Our panel of experienced teachers and experts will evaluate each submission based on clarity, applicability, and effectiveness in meeting the learning objectives. Two winners from each group will receive scholarships and have their lesson plans featured on our website, social media channels, and outreach newsletter.
This is an excellent opportunity to showcase your teaching skills. So, don’t hesitate to join us and submit your best lesson plan!
We are honored to have the Greater Good Science Center and Dr. DeRoche from the University of San Diego as sponsors for the Character Education Lesson Plan Competition.
The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley turns cutting-edge research into practical resources for happiness, compassion, and a meaningful life.
The GGSC Education Program uses this research to support educators worldwide in building kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs.
Edward F. DeRoche, MA, MS, Ph.D., has served as a teacher, principal, school board member, professor, and dean at the University of San Diego. He is a former president of the California Association of Teacher Educators and a member of the National Commission on Character Education.
He currently directs the Character Education Resource Center at USD and has received major honors, including a lifetime achievement award in character education, Outstanding Administrator of the Year, and Educator of the Year.
Topic: Thankfulness
Level: K -2
Class Size: 10 students
1st Online Q & A session
2nd Online Q & A session
Registration deadline
Lesson plan submission
Winner announcement
Our jury of experts and experienced teachers will evaluate the submitted lesson plans based on the following guidelines.
The lesson plan:
The best lesson plans will receive a scholarship and certificate and will be promoted on our website, newsletter, and social media platforms. All shortlisted entries will be published under the author’s name on our webpage or publication, and their lesson plans will be adapted for use in classrooms. Winners may be invited to an award ceremony, during which photos may be taken. These photos could be used on social media platforms for promotional purposes.
As we enter the second year of the “Seed of Love” lesson plan competition, we are excited to announce an expansion of our award categories. Participants may choose to join the “Character Education Advocates” category if they are interested in developing a character education lesson plan, regardless of their background, or the “Rising Teachers” category if they are college students majoring in education or enrolled in a teacher preparation program. Through this expansion, we hope to raise greater awareness of the importance of character education.
Winner
$500, a certificate, and a course: 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Excellent work (2nd prize)
$250, a certificate, and a course: the 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Excellent work (3rd prize)
A certificate and a course: the 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Winner
$500, a certificate, and a course: 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Excellent work (2nd prize)
$250, a certificate, and a course: the 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Excellent work (3rd prize)
A certificate and a course: the 2026–2027 Communities of Practice.
Sarah Opatkiewicz has been principal at Shelyn Elementary school in Rowland Unified School district for 18 years. During her time in the district she has helped research, develop and implement both Spanish and Mandarin dual immersion programs at multiple sites. Mrs. Opatkiewicz believes that bilingualism, biliteracy and multiculturalism are essential to building connectivity and cohesiveness in communities and society as a whole.
Benjamin Tsao is the Principal of Tzu Chi Elementary School, where he leads with a commitment to academic excellence, character development, and bilingual education. With a passion for innovative learning and a deep respect for cultural values, Mr. Tsao works closely with teachers, families, and the broader community to create a nurturing and high-performing educational environment.
We are honored to invite two winners from last year—Daniel Huerta and Olga Vaskova, the first- and second-place winners of the 2025 Character Education Lesson Plan Competition. Their knowledge and insights will provide valuable perspectives on lesson planning.
Please click on their names to learn more about their backgrounds and read their bios.
Eligibility:
The Lesson Plan Competition (the “Competition”) is open to residents of the United States, Mexico, South Africa, Mozambique, Turkey, and the Philippines who are at least 18 years old and eligible to file a tax return. The Competition includes two categories:
(1) College students majoring in Education or enrolled in a Teacher Preparation Program; and
(2) individuals who are interested in developing a Character Education lesson plan.
Submission:
Individual and team submissions are welcome (maximum of 2 members per team).
Entry Requirements:
(A). Participants must create and submit an original lesson plan for the character trait – Thankfulness.
(B). Participants must submit their lesson plan both in .PDF and .pptx formats.
(C). Each participant / team is allowed to submit only one entry.
(D). Entries must be received by the specified deadline to be considered for the competition.
Intellectual Property Rights and Licensing:
(A). By submitting an entry, participants affirm that the lesson plan is their original work and does not infringe upon any third party’s copyright, trademark, or intellectual property rights.
(B). Participants grant the organizing entity a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and display the lesson plan for the competition and related promotional activities.
(C). Lesson plans selected for publication will include an attribution to the author and will be made available free of charge on our website or related outreach platforms under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
(D). All published lesson plans will be licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. This license allows others to:
Judging Criteria:
(A). Lesson plans will be evaluated based on creativity, originality, clarity, and effectiveness.
(B). The decision of the judging panel will be final and binding.
Winner Selection:
(A). The organizing entity will select a panel of qualified judges to review and score the lesson plans.
(B) The entry with the highest overall score will be declared the winner, and the entry with the second-highest score will be awarded the Prize for Excellent Work.
(C). In the event of a tie, the judges will deliberate and select the winner based on the tie-breaking criteria they deem appropriate.
Announcement of Winners:
(A). The winners will be notified via the contact information provided at the time of registration.
(B). The winners’ names may be announced publicly through the organizing entity’s website, social media channels, or other promotional materials.
(C). If any personal taxes are incurred due to receiving the scholarship, the scholarship receivers are responsible for paying the taxes
Disqualification:
(A). The organizing entity reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not comply with these terms and conditions or contains unethical content.
(B). The organizing entity also reserves the right to disqualify participants who engage in fraudulent or unethical practices.
Limitation of Liability:
(A). The organizing entity and its affiliates, partners, staff, volunteers, and sponsors shall not be responsible for any loss, injury, or damage arising from participation in the competition or acceptance of the prize.
(B). Participants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless the organizing entity from any liability incurred in connection with the competition.
Privacy:
(A). The personal information collected from participants will be used solely to administer the competition and will be handled by applicable data protection laws and the organizing entity’s privacy policy.
Modification or Termination:
(A). The organizing entity reserves the right to modify or terminate the competition at any time without prior notice and for any reason.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction:
(A). These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of California.
(B). Any disputes arising out of or in connection with the competition shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States.
By registering for the Lesson Plan Competition, participants acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to abide by these terms and conditions.
