Welcome to the second issue of the 2021 volume of the Journal of Character Education. This issue closes out the year and, as well, closes out the two-part Virtuous Leadership themed special issue guest-edited by Melinda Bier and Stephen Sherblom (see 2020 Volume 16, Issue 1, for Part 1 of the special issue). The positive response to Bier and Sherblom’s call for papers on this theme resulted in two exciting issues, and we are grateful for their vision and leadership in shepherding this collection of empirical articles and practitioner’s voices articles that we are sure you will find informative. The introduction to the special issue by Sherblom and Bier provides an overview of the contents of this issue. Please take a look.
This issue also closes another big chapter of the JCE—our coeditor of 10 years, Jacques (Jack) Benninga, is stepping down to fully enjoy his retirement. Jack is one of the longest-tenured and leading figures in character education, including his role in establishing the Bonner Center for Character Education and Citizenship at Fresno State and the longest running character education conference in the world. It has been a joy to partner with Jack on the JCE as coeditor since 2011—and, indeed, as a founding member of the editorial board since 2003. We especially appreciate his caring and critical perspective on the JCE and on the field more broadly, as well as his leadership in special issues and sections of the JCE during his tenure as coeditor. We thank Jack for his service to the JCE and wish him a happy and well-deserved retirement.
Every ending leads to a new beginning. This issue now marks the first with Jonathan Tirrell serving as coeditor. Jonathan is a long-time friend and supporter of the JCE. He first joined the team in 2015 serving as an editorial assistant to Marvin and Jack as part of his doctoral training internship, before becoming managing editor. Readers and particularly contributors (prospective authors, reviewers, etc.) know Jon well. Jon has been pivotal in transforming the JCE and, after years of editorial mentorship by Richard Lerner, made the JCE much more professional and efficient. It is for those reasons, and the easy way Jon and Marvin collaborate, that Jon was the natural choice to succeed Jack as coeditor. In fact, while managing editor, Jon essentially functioned as a third coeditor. We welcome him to this new position.
