LEONARDO – In order to make a difference, you need to have a plan. Eight students from Trinity Hall in Leonardo shared a yearlong experience to learn how much hard work such a plan requires. Under the guidance of James Palmieri, assistant head of school, and Kristy Geoghan, director of development, the girls participated in a design fellowship as part of the Ethics in Action program developed by Kent Place School in Summit.
The objective of the Ethics in Action program is for students to develop new approaches and solutions to complex real-world issues using methods adapted from the ethical decision-making model and design thinking.
Trinity Hall’s two teams- “Foodel” and “F.A.T.hletes” were asked to tackle the 2016 theme of food ethics. Among the issues raised by the program are humanity’s relationship with food, the socioeconomic considerations of eating healthy, the disconnect between agricultural production and human consumption, and the debate regarding GMOs and world hunger.
The Foodel team, consisting of sophomores Jacqueline Fletcher and Courtney Vadon, and juniors Lillian Scott and Kaitlyn Vogel, presented an approach to the redistribution of wasted food in Monmouth County. Their primary objective was to connect local eateries, which may have an excess of unwanted food, to local food banks through an easy method of donation. The “F.A.T.hletes,” consisting of juniors Pallavi Kawatra and Grace Moddeman, and juniors Emily Knepple and C.C. Jakub, shared their desire to promote awareness and prevention of Female Athlete Triad medical condition in teenage student-athletes. The team spread awareness via their Twitter handle (@Fathletes_), by distributing F.A.T. hair ties and business cards, and by reaching out to professional athletes, doctors, schools and athletic personnel.
Throughout the year, the students working with the Ethics Institute at Kent Place School and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University (Washington, DC). They started off with a weeklong workshop at Kent Place School, Summit, at the end of June. In October, they journeyed to the Kennedy Institute to meet with faculty and design professionals, who provided insight, and assisted them in preparing their ultimate presentations. Throughout the year, the girls met bi-weekly to hone their presentation.
On April 15, the Trinity Hall students pitched their design projects to a panel of Georgetown judges at Kent Place School, culminating their Ethics in Action program experience.
“Our students were forced to navigate the ethical decision-making and design thinking process simultaneously while solving real-world issues. This proved to be a difficult, lengthy, winding and ongoing road. Our girls delivered their presentations with confidence and left a panel of ethics, design, and branding professionals very impressed,” said Palmieri.
Nico Staple, Head of Operations and Product Development at the Kennedy Institute, shared that assessment. Said Staple, “The ladies of Foodel fully immersed themselves in the design process and their disciplined attitude resulted in the creation of something valuable to their local community (and beyond). They created a novel solution to redistributing food that would otherwise be wasted: using drivers ed students to transport items between local businesses and food banks. Most importantly to their learning and the project’s success, they actually went out into the real world and tested their idea. The immediate results weren’t all positive, but the team took what they learned and iterated their program, improving it based on research and feedback from users—this is fundamental to the human-centered design process we teach at Ethics Lab.
“The F.A.T.hletes honed in on their unique strength in approaching their complex problem: their perspective as teen girls. Capitalizing on this potential for valuable peer mentorship and education, the team created a suite of marketing and branding materials targeted at a population they know well. I’m looking forwarding to seeing how this project progresses and the network of F.A.T.hletes grows.”
Trinity Hall plans to participate in the next iteration of the Ethics in Action program in 2017.
