celebratingour 2 0 thyear - The Parklander Magazine

COMMUNITY NEWSNorth Broward Preparatory SchoolHosts Ethical Decision Making Workshop“We have seven terminally ill patients who need heart transplants, and wehave one heart. Which patient gets to live? Decide in ten minutes. Go!”This challenge set up the first of several ethical dilemmas that high schoolseniors from North Broward Preparatory School faced at their workshopon ethical decision-making recently. The workshop brought the seniorsinto contact with community leaders from many different sectors of thecommunity: business, public service, the military, the clergy and medicine.As the seconds ticked away, groups worried over the hypotheticalconsequences of this decision.“You have five more minutes. Make your decision, or all of the patientswill die and this donated heart will be wasted.” Students in groups of eightor nine pored over case studies, reviewing the qualifications of imaginarycandidates for a life-saving heart transplant. Table leaders from thecommunity led the group on their decision-making process. During theirdeliberations, these seniors understood a crucial fact: Sometimes even thebest decision will be harmful to others.“Why are decisions difficult?” asked workshop leader Michael Kridel,a former law enforcement officer and current lawyer and forensicaccountant. In the end, many choices force us to select between verydifficult alternatives, he explained. On the other hand, Kridel providedstudents with tools that help students process these hard choices. Eachdiscussion concluded with Kridel reminding the students of the fundamentalaxiom of moral and ethical decision making: “You can choose youractions, but you can’t choose the consequences of those actions.”Top to bottom: Darryl Long presents hisgroup’s solution to his table leader’s dilemmato the seniors. The students were given anethical dilemma that their table leader hadto face during his career and after thestudents reached a consensus, the tableleader revealed what choice he made.As an introduction to the different typesof decisions, Kenny Ahearn and SkylarButters explain why they chose theclothes they wore to the seminar.Daniel Ball outlines the positives andnegatives of each possible decision tohis table leader’s dilemma his groupbrainstormed.Rachel Ossip describes her table leader’sdilemma to the seniors. Having tableleaders with unique experiences indecision making helped the group learnskills that could help them later in life.In small groups, each led by acommunity professional, studentsidentified and reflected on their ownpersonal values, and then appliedthese values to a moral decisionmakingtemplate. Throughout themorning, students engaged in theirown moral and ethical challengesand worked through hypotheticalcases with the support of their table leaders. The event culminated in anexercise where, instead of hyothetical choices, students got to wrestle witha real-life dilemma that their table leaders had faced. They considered themoral and ethical responsibilities involved in firing employees, exposingerrors that had been covered up, owning up to personal mistakes, orconfronting colleagues and friends whose actions violated the interest oftheir organizations.“We learned that you can follow a system for making these decisions,” saidsenior Federica Ricci. “I liked that we were required to come up with asolution as a group. We also found that we could work together with otherstudents and make decisions–even if we did not agree at first.”“Our students were engaging in a higher level thinking process,” saidNorth Broward Preparatory School’s deputy headmaster Dr. Jeanne Korn.“This was a challenging opportunity for students to ponder the kinds ofreal-life issues that they will face as adults. A student told me that thisworkshop gave him a chance to take time to think in a different way.Parents shared that their seniors had come home and discussed the bigideas of the workshop with them. If we’re helping this kind of conversationto happen, we’re fulfilling a big responsibility to give students theopportunity to learn life skills.”Stoneman DouglasAnnual Golf Tournament14Stoneman Douglas High School Gridiron Booster Club is hosting itsAnnual Golf Tournament to benefit the Eagles Football Team.This year’sevent will take place at Deer Creek Golf Club in Deerfield Beach, onSunday, May 23. Golfer check-in starts at noon, with shotgun start at1:30 p.m. For sponsorship details and to sign up your organization,contact the Gridiron Booster Club at 954-444-9942 or 954-755-0555, orvia e-mail to info@douglasgridironclub.com.COMMUNITY NEWS Continues on page 18MAY 2010