Erin Hennessy, Director of the Girls
Leadership Institute
Karen Rezach, EdD, Director of The Ethics
Institute at Kent Place School
To introduce a definition of leadership that
incorporates the study of ethics
To discuss the mission and work of The Ethics
Institute at Kent Place School and The Girls’
Leadership Institute
To explore a framework/protocol for creating an
“institute” at your school
Conversation Norms
One speaker at a time
Share the air – say what’s core
Use “I” statements
You are the owner of your own experience
Practice purity of motive
“Ouch!”, then educate
Take responsibility for what you say and how you
say it
Maintain confidentiality
Be real, take off the mask!
Lean into discomfort; take positive risks
© 2012 Kent Place School. All Rights Reserved.
The fifth annual JA/Deloitte Teen Ethics Survey (2007)
found that while most teens (71 percent) feel fully
prepared to make ethical decisions in the workplace,
nearly 40 percent of those young people believe that
lying, cheating, plagiarizing, and violence are
sometimes necessary to succeed in school.
Mission: To promote the process and practice of
ethical decision making in primary and secondary
school communities
You are standing on an overpass in a train yard. From
where you are standing, you can see that a train is
approaching, and will run over 5 workers who are
gathered further down on the track. The workers are
unaware that the train is approaching, and they will
surely be killed by the oncoming train. Next to you is a
lever that will divert the train onto another track;
however, if the train goes onto that track, one
unsuspecting bystander will be killed.
Do you pull the lever?
Harvard Moral Sense Test, Joshua Greene, PhD
A system of moral principles; the branch of philosophy
dealing with human values and moral conduct. The
science of moral duty or the science of ideal human
character.
In Search of Ethics: Conversations with Men and
Women of Character (Marella), 2001
“Learning ABOUT ethics” vs. “DOING ethics”
A “Process” and a “Practice”
That which has intrinsic worth;
a principle, standard or quality
regarded as valuable or
desirable
Honesty
Trustworthiness
Integrity
Promise-keeping
Accountability
Loyalty
Justice
Autonomy
Equality
Fairness
Respect
Responsibility
Service
Compassion
Friendship
Empathy
A choice between two values
“Right vs. Right”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Study and understand the situation.
Identify the ethical dilemma – right vs. right.
Identify the values that are involved on all
sides.
Identify the values that influence your position.
Communicate effectively and respectfully a
decision that demonstrates the ability to
apply the facts
identify values that inform your position
refer to other sources to build the argument
Linda is a senior at a very prestigious, college-prep high school. Throughout
her high school career, Linda has excelled academically, athletically, and
is a leader among her peers, being recently elected as editor of the school
newspaper.
As the college process moves along, Linda is finding it very difficult to keep
up with her AP courses, while filling out college applications,
recommendations, SAT’s, etc. Her application to Yale and an AP English
paper are both due on the same date. Linda is stressed to the max, so she
opts to complete her Yale application while doing a “copy and paste”
from the Internet for a large section of her English paper.
Linda’s English teacher discovers the plagiarism, and confronts Linda about
it. Linda bursts into tears, is remorseful, explains the situation, and asks
the teacher to tell no one. The teacher knows that she must report the
incident to the Judiciary, and that Linda will be found guilty of violating
the Honor Code. This violation will then be reported to Yale, as well as
to any other university to which Linda applies. This will seriously
jeopardize her admission into these Ivy League institutions.
Does the English teacher report the violation to the Judiciary Committee?

Student Internships



Faculty/Staff Workshops and Training


The Bioethics Project Partnership
Ethical Leadership in Business
www.kentplace.org/ethicsinstitute
The Girls’ Leadership Institute


2-hour Ethical Leadership Workshop
Daily Ethics Circles
Mission: To support middle school girls to develop
and strengthen the skills necessary to become the
leaders of tomorrow.



A unique summer program for girls entering seventh and eighth
grades to explore their leadership potential and strengthen their
personal confidence and self-esteem. Each girl will discover and
develop her own unique leadership style though a broad range of
hands-on activities.
Since its inception in 1995, GLI has provided over 250 girls the
support needed to explore their leadership potential, strengthen
their personal confidence and self esteem, and prepare to fill
leadership roles within their schools and communities.
Vision of program from the start has been adults mentoring
college/high school students mentoring middle school students

How do we continue to grow the program
while maintaining its strengths and evolving
with our campus and the skills required for the
21st century?




Expanded GLI three years ago from a 4-5 day
residential program to a 2 week day program
Allows us to accommodate a greater number of
students, more flexibility with space
KPS families offer hosting to out of town
participants
Greater focus on meaningful programming
rather than logistics
Ensures that everyone grows!






Problem-solving
Character
Relationships
Vision
Empowerment
Service

The philosophy of leadership espoused by
GLI revolves around two key concepts:
inspiring and empowering others is at the heart
of what it means to be a leader, and leadership
can be a part of one’s everyday life.





More intentional connections with Ethics
Institute
More modeling
More community service
More hands-on application of concepts learned
Created a more formal training program for the
counselors, who are all past participants
“When you have a mission, you have a core
passion that gives you vision. With vision of your
mission, you move gracefully through your goals.
When you have a mission, you feel valued, worthy
and respectable. Respect your life enough to
pursue a meaningful mission. Respect yourself
enough to give yourself something to do.”








What are you interested in? What are you passionate about?
What values do you consider most important?
Are your interests and values aligned?
What are some of the issues and problems surrounding your area
of interest?
What organizations are involved?
Which of your values connect to one or more of these concerns?
How?
What can you do to help reduce or eliminate the problem?
Are there ethical dilemmas to consider?
Vision Statement:
What is your vision/long-term goal? What do you hope to accomplish? How in general do you hope to
accomplish this?
Statement of Need:
Why is this project needed? Who would benefit (remember, you can be one of the people your project
benefits—especially if it helps you develop compassion, courage, or character). You can put research here—
the number of animals put in animal shelters, the importance of young children having role models, the
number of homeless shelters in NJ, etc. Which of your values are connected to your vision?
Action Steps:
Start by writing down ALL the actions you may need to achieve your goal.
Be concrete: Don’t write “advertise project”—instead write “Make flyers on the computer; print them on
colored paper, and post them around the school. Make morning meeting announcement. Put ad in church
bulletin.”
Generate as many different options and ideas as possible—don’t judge them, just write! Make a LONG list.
Then, begin to prioritize (and prune) these actions. Start with the ones that are absolutely necessary. List and
develop these first. Your counselor can help you with this process. As ethical issues arise, use your decision
making skills to resolve the concern.
Partners:
Who are you going to get to help with this project? Write down key names and, if possible, contact
information. Do your partners share your values? Are any values in conflict with one another?
Timeline:
Generate a rough timeline from start to finish. What will the major tasks be each month?





Relay for Life Team at Kent Place
Flood Packets in Cranford, NJ
St. Hubert’s in Madison, NJ
Reading Tutor in Irvington, NJ
Community Soup Kitchen in Morristown, NJ




What needs assessments were done to generate
this new idea?
What is the connection between your new
program and your school’s mission?
What are the costs/funding necessary to
support the program?
What are the potential benefits? Struggles?
Risks?



What protocols will be used to evaluate your
program? How do you assess “success?”
What is the end goal? What does a successful
version of this program look like?
Should any school programs merge or
disappear as a result of this new program?

www.kentplace.org/gli


hennessye@kentplace.org
www.kentplace.org/ethicsinstitute

rezachk@kentplace.org