Question: If a friend steals a car, would you take a ride in it? This is one of the real-life questions posed to North Arvada Middle School seventh grade students during the 4 Way Test Program organized as a partnership between the Arvada Sunrise Rotary Club and North Arvada Middle School. The event was held in two sessions at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities on April 18th and 26th.

In all, nearly 200 students were exposed to the 4 Way Test Program and its system of addressing difficult ethical situations.

Rotary's 4 Way Test asks:

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

This first-year program was held at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. To get there from their school students walked with teachers — a jaunt which only took about 20 minutes to complete. In today's world, walking may seem low tech, but it furnishes some exercise which all kids can use and a further chance to interact with their teachers.

Once at the Arvada Center, students were seated at small tables in groups of four with one Rotarian at each table acting as facilitator. The situational questions were created and selected several days ahead of time. The questions came from both students and teachers. This process ensured that the topics discussed were of interest to the students. In the discussion groups, students pulled questions from a box and used the 4 Way Test as a yardstick in formulating their answers.

Some examples of the ethical issues the students dealt with included the following.

• Would you allow someone to hide drugs in your locker?

• If you go over to a friend's house and people are drinking, what would you do?

• Would you lie and say that you are 11 years old to get into a movie at a cheaper rate?

It took a few minutes for the students to become engaged, but they rapidly began leaning forward and participating enthusiastically in the discussions. How did the Rotarian facilitators fare? All things considered - pretty well! For some Rotarians, it's been many years since they've had meaningful, in depth interaction with a teen aged person. Nearly every one of the club's 27 members participated in this event. Some were facilitators in the small groups, some prepped the materials, and still others served as "floaters" during the event. The response from members is overwhelmingly positive with plans already underway for next year's event.

What about reaction from the school? The program was able to reach almost all the seventh graders in the school. The consensus of the teachers was that seventh grade is THE grade to have participate because those students will be the "top dogs" next year, in that they will be the older group at the school in the following school year. Reaction from most students was also very positive. For example, when asked who would like to stay to lead discussions for the afternoon session, 32 out of 40 raised their hands.

Commemorative T-shirts were handed out at the completion of the event. It has been reported that students have been seen wearing the T-shirts many days after the event. In the peer-influenced world of the seventh grader, this may be the biggest endorsement we could hope for.