Gander Club teaches 4 Way Test to school children
Elementary students learn life lessons from Rotary Club
A group of elementary school students in Gander have been learning some valuable lessons they believe will help them be better and kinder people as they get older.
Grade 4 students from Gander Academy recently spent some time with members of the Rotary Club of Gander learning about the 4-Way Test, an application of ethics first used by Rotary International in 1943. The students were encouraged to ask themselves four questions before any action they may take — is it the truth?; is it fair to all concerned?; will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and will it be beneficial to all concerned?
“We believe the 4-Way Test is a great ethics test,” said Jack Waye, a member of the Rotary Club of Gander. “In the years since Rotary started using it, it’s spread all over the world, in schools, in workplaces, in communities. We believe that if the whole world followed the 4-Way Test, we’d have a lot fewer problems than we have now.”
Mr. Waye said the local Rotary Club’s goal is to bring the 4-Way Test to Grade 4 students at Gander Academy every year in order to ensure every student that passes through the school system in Gander will learn about ethics and how they should be applied throughout one’s life.
“It’s possible that, as they grow older, some of them won’t remember it,” he said. “But I suspect a large portion of them will, and carry it with them.”
Mr. Waye and another Rotary Club member, David Peddle, were the two Rotarians who first brought the test to the school a few years ago.
“We go into the school, and we meet them in the little theatre, and there’s about 140 of them, we do our presentation and we explain the test and interact with them,” said Mr. Waye. “The Grade 4 teachers are very supportive, and they have already done preparatory work with the kids prior to them meeting with us. It works really, really well.”
After the presentation by Mr. Waye and Mr. Peddle, the students are sent off with a contest challenge. Each of them is asked to design a poster illustrating the 4-Way Test. Students are given class time to prepare them, and a group of Rotarians returns to the school after the posters are complete to choose a winner from each class. Each winning student is presented with a certificate and each class is awarded $50.
“You should always respect the 4-Way Test, and do it all the time.” - — Jean Stares, 10
Elizabeth Green is the principal of Gander Academy. She said bringing a program like this into her school fits in nicely with efforts she and other staff members are making on a daily basis to encourage ethical behaviour among the student body.
“For us it’s great, because it reinforces the Positive Behaviour Intervention Supports (PBIS) components that we’re proposing as well at the school,” she said. “So, rather than focusing on negative discipline, we are looking at positive ways of reinforcing good behaviour. That’s exactly what Rotary is about as well.”
Ms. Green said students at the Grade 4 level seem to be at the ideal stage in their education to really appreciate the project.
“They’re willing to learn, they’re enthusiastic about everything, and they’re at that age where things are still wonderful,” she said. “It would take a lot for them to not like something. This is a great exercise for them, because what they learn becomes a part of their character.”
Victoria White was the winning poster maker in her class, presenting for the judges a poster she described as “colourful” and representative of the test.
“What I learned was that you should follow the 4-Way Test, and be nice and kind to others,” said the nine-year-old.
One of her fellow students, Jean Stares, also described her poster as “colourful” and she used a puzzle piece to illustrate what the test is and how it works.
And what did the 10-year-old learn?
“I learned that you should always respect the 4-Way Test,” she said, “and do it all the time.”
tsaunders@ganderbeacon.ca