Bergen County Education Association: Providing Leadership to Develop a County-Wide Safe School Model, Part II

On Wednesday, October 22, 2008, the Bergen County Education Association hosted a dinner presentation – Transforming Our Schools: The Heart and Brick of School Security – for 300 attendees at The Marriott in Teaneck as a follow up to the initiative that kicked off September 16, 2008.

As the keynote speaker for the event I addressed attendees including teachers, counselors, crisis management team members and administrators from throughout Bergen County as well as security personnel and law enforcement officials from the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association, Bergen County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, New Jersey Association School Resource Officers, and numerous police departments. The presence of educators, law enforcement and emergency personnel together at this event is a testament to the unity of effort among Bergen County, federal, state and local agencies.

The keynote focused on the current crisis of character in American society as well as ongoing school violence and safety issues.

PRESENTATION AGENDA

• Why Are We Here?
  • Creating an Effective Learning Environment
  • Compliance vs. Commitment
  • Transforming Power of a Teacher
• Culture of Gratification
  • Crisis of Leadership
  • Culture of Violence
  • Shattered Communities
  • Filling the Void
• New Jersey School Safety Review
  • School Administrator Procedures:
    Responding to Critical Incidents–
    Model School Security Policies
    October 2007
  • School Safety and Security Manual:
    Best Practices Guidelines
    December 2006
• Unity of Effort
• USDOE / FBI / Secret Service Document Review
• Reawakening the Heart of America
  • Progress and Priorities
  • Ingredients for Transformation
  • The Altruism Factor
• Character: the Heart of the Matter
• Call To Action
• Tribute to American Military
• Conclusion

Complimenting the presentation, all attendees received a library of school safety and character education documents as provided by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service including:

• Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools
• Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Safe Schools and Communities
• Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen
• The Final Report And Findings Of The Safe School Initiative: Implications For The Prevention Of School Attacks In The United States
• Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide To Managing Threatening Situations And To Creating Safe School Climates
• Character Education: Our Shared Responsibility

All attendees also received copies of my new book Listen To Their Cries through the generosity of the Bergen County Education Association.

The BCEA, under the leadership of President Joe Coppola, deserves recognition for its dedication to school safety and character education. This dedication will continue with forthcoming training on topics including crisis management, violence prevention, character education and strategies for working with youth.

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Bergen County Education Association	Click here to visit site
New Jersey Education Association	Click here to visit site
New Jersey Association of School Resource Officers	Click here to visit site
NJDOE School Security	Click here to visit site
Bergen County Prosecutor's Office	Click here to visit site
Bergen County Sheriff's Office	Click here to visit site
Bergen County Police Chiefs Association	Click here to visit site
BCEA: Providing Leadership to Develop a County-Wide Safe School Model Part I	Click here to visit site

National Conference on Ethics in America 2008

On October 19, 2008, 180 college delegates representing 62 colleges and universities from throughout the United States began arriving at the United States Military Academy for the 2008 National Conference on Ethics in America.

Welcome from Jordan Morfitt
Chairman of NCEA 2008
From the Conference Guide

Welcome to the twenty-third annual Class of 1970 National Conference on Ethics in America. It is very exciting to be able to gather such a diverse group of students from around the country to discuss ethical issues affecting our country. With so much focus on the degradation of ethics in our society, this conference can be a demonstration of the great potential that still exists for young people to have a positive ethical impact on society.

The intent of the conference is threefold. The first goal of the conference is to develop a national awareness of ethical behavior in the undergraduate community. The second goal of the conference is to improve collegiate codes of ethics and honor systems across the nation by drawing on the experiences and value systems of students from various colleges and universities. The third and final goal of the conference is to provide students with the opportunity to discuss issues of character and integrity with proven athletes, business and government officials, as well as leaders of character across varying fields of enterprise.

The theme for this year is Serving with Integrity. Our Founding Fathers built this nation on a strong set of moral values. They put their lives, objectives and even loved ones at jeopardy in order to carry out their just cause. Today is no different; every day students face a multitude of ethical dilemmas. Whether it is cheating on a test, using fake identification, or knowing when to intervene on a distasteful situation, ethical decisions are an integral part of our lives. By sharing personal philosophies and collectively addressing ethical issues with students from a variety of academic environments, we can increase our awareness of ethical challenges and the different moral philosophies that govern people's decisions. This awareness will undoubtedly lead to a better understanding of the ethical dilemmas that face our country and help us to design solutions to these dilemmas. We will not change the world at this conference, but through thoughtful discussion and by imparting to one another a better understanding of the ethical dilemmas that face our country, I believe we can empower each and every delegate to make a change on his or her campus.

On Monday, October 20 the conference speakers began to address the attendees including Brigadier General Michael Linnington, Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy and Colonel (Ret.) Len Marella, President of the Center for Leadership and Ethics.

Brigadier General Linnington thanked the United States Military Academy class of 1970 for presenting the conference and whose class motto Serve with Integrity was the inspiration for the theme of this year's conference.

The commandant also thanked the professionals from the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic at West Point, namely Colonel Doug Boone, Director of the Center and LT. Colonel Tim Sullivan, the Deputy Director and the NCEA Conference Officer in Charge.

Brigadier General Linnington stated that the USMA's mission of developing leaders of character is taken very seriously so that cadets have the training, education and inspiration they need to serve in the United States Army.

After the commandant, Len Marella share some thoughts from his book, In Search of Ethics, which all attendees received through the generosity of the class of 1970. Some of the thoughts Marella shared included:

• The importance of listening to others not only with our ears and mind but with our heart
• Serving others is the key to happiness
• Leaders of character seek to discover the truth, decide what is right and demonstrate the courage and commitment to act accordingly
• Character is a sum of the moral qualities that constitute the nature of a leader and shape the way one acts

In concluding his introductory remarks, Mr. Marella spoke about the importance of moral courage. He encouraged participants to renewed dedication to moral courage, commitment, ethics, character and leadership.

As the speaker who initiated the afternoon proceedings, my presentation title Reawakening the Heart of America through Leadership, Vigilance and Collaboration was delivered, which was complimented by the distribution of my book Listen To Their Cries to all attendees through the generosity of the Class of 1970.

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

REAWAKENING THE HEART OF AMERICA THROUGH
LEADERSHIP, VIGILANCE AND COLLABORATION

Our nation has suffered for too many years a crisis of leadership. We must dedicate ourselves to a renewal of character, courage and compassion and a transformation of America which must ignite through the character of the youth of America.

This presentation will inspire college and university students to a renewed dedication to the privilege and responsibility of living a life of character, positively influencing their communities, campuses and families and serving others, especially those most in need.

AGENDA

• Why Are We Here?
  • Foundations of Leadership
• Culture of Gratification
  • Crisis of Leadership
  • Culture of Violence
  • Shattered Communities
  • Filling the Void
• Reawakening the Heart of America
  • Progress and Priorities
  • Ingredients for Transformation
  • The Altruism Factor
• Character: the Heart of the Matter
• Call To Action
• Tribute to American Military
• Conclusion

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NCEA Home Page	Click here to visit site
NCEA 2007 Conference Blog	Click here to visit site