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Posted: November 15, 2015

Rotary Values and Ethics Program

By Dan Schellenberg

The Rotary Clubs of Cranbrook recently presented a Rotary Values and Ethics program for students at Mt. Baker Secondary School. The sessions were held on October 26 and 28. The program is presented to all Grade 10 students as part of the planning curriculum.

Darryl Bishop of the Sunrise Rotary Club and one of the presenters at this year’s event says that the program in its fourth year was modelled after a program from a Rotary Club in West Vancouver. The intent is to provide students with an opportunity to examine where their values come from and how they are used to guide decision making throughout their lives.

Darryl stated that the feedback received from the staff at Mt. Baker has been ‘overwhelmingly’ positive. “They come to us each year asking us when we are available to do the program. The biggest challenge is finding enough people to participate as facilitators and presenters,” he said.

The program begins by students being asked what they know about Rotary. Students are presented with an overview of Rotary and its guidelines and accomplishments. Many of the students attending the class were surprised on how involved Rotary is on both a local level and international scale.

Some of the values and ethics class guidelines include: all ideas have value, speak with respect and no personal stories. The presenter asks the facilitators to hand out copies of a list of values. The students have about four minutes to circle five that are important to them, personally. Then, each of the student’s chooses a spokesperson, who shares their top five values for the group.

Facilitators were used to move the process along and keep the topics on course. The facilitator’s role is an encouraging supportive non-judgemental role. Their job is to listen, ask questions and encourage participation of the group. Students may already have a set of values for themselves. The values and ethics classes are a great way to promote discussion on these topics and to enhance a student’s experience in evaluating the material and how to apply it in their daily lives.

Ethics and values are a very relevant topic in our society and in living out our daily lives. Some examples used in the seminar are:

– taking steroids to improve a professional sport performance;

– being five minutes late to work, leaving five minutes early;

– reporting a car accident caused by your friend;

– texting or phoning a friend while at work;

– helping a friend study for a test;

– avoiding chores at home by saying you have a load of homework;

– at the finish line giving a ribbon to all of the kids in a race;

– a politician using his/her expense account for personal travel.

Facilitators were invited to speak about a current job they have or a former job and whether the company has a code of ethics or a code of conduct in their job. McDonalds and Tim Hortons both have an ethics policy that outlines behaviours and what is expected of employees. Some businesses have a plaque on the wall stating how employees will conduct business.

Rotary has a Four-Way test, which is a Code of Conduct and an easy way to check our personal ethics in what we think, say or do.

The Four-Way Test presented as part of the program is as follows:

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned? (just)

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned? (helpful)

Overall, the values and ethics program was a positive event for all involved. The students actively participated in the class and appeared genuinely interested in the content of the course, which was evidenced by the level of feedback and participation displayed by the students. The presenters and facilitators also provided positive feedback and seemed inspired by the program; particularly the amount of compassion, awareness and understanding shown by the students in their analysis of situations that are likely to occur in their daily lives, especially in the world of peer pressure, which can be so prevalent in a young person’s life.

The above material and information is a brief overview of what was presented at the Values and Ethics program at Mt. Baker Secondary School this fall. It is hoped that the instruction and content involved in the program will continue to flourish and remain a part of the Planning Curriculum at Mt. Baker. Thanks to all of the students, presenters and facilitators in helping make this a successful program.

As Darryl Bishop, presenter, said after the completion of the program: “From what I saw, the world is in good hands” – referring to the level and quality of participation depicted by the students.

Dan Schellenberg is one of the Value and Ethics Program facilitators.


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