South Lakes High School heightens its young minds to think critically about real world issues for its 33rd annual Ethics Days. For the last 33 years, South Lakes High School has made it their goal to give their senior class a once in a lifetime opportunity to discuss thought provoking and nuanced ethical conversation.
Ethics Day was first founded in 1992, a partnership between the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and South Lakes High School. The event takes place in the heart of the town, The Reston Town Center at the Hyatt Regency Reston. Over the last three decades, Ethics Days has gained support from all around the Reston community. With partnerships from Wegmans, Leidos, and the city of Fairfax all support the funding of fostering critical thinking. While discussions of ethical thinking are not unheard of, South Lakes’ annual tradition of having the entire senior class participate in these discussions is unlike any other schools.
The class of 2026 was informed to dress in the best professional workwear, and this could be no better show than said. With students across the entire class dressed in blazers, skirts, slacks, ties, and heels. For this events, students were randomly put into one of three rooms. With each room holding a different ethical situation important to today’s issues.
Within each room, students were again randomly assigned to a table with a discussion leader. This gave students the opportunity to work with peers they may be unfamiliar with, and get a chance to hear different unique perspectives about the topics at hand. As mentioned earlier, each room was home to a unique but real world ethical scenario with the green room being a mock court trial about a teenage girl who caused the death of her best friend driving home from a party. The table groups would have to make the life altering discussion on whether or not she would be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The blue room was based on a diffusion around AI and how the fast growing future of AI is changing day to day life for better or for worse. Lastly, the red room was a life or death decision on who of the six candidates presented, all with compelling and justifiable reasons would be given a heart from a donor. With only one of the six being able to receive this heart.
Harley Woodring-Rico, a current senior, who attended Ethics day shared their thoughts on Ethics Days. With Woodring-Rico favorite part of the day being the mock court room trials, due to how realistic the trial felt, “with a real judge which made it seem like it was a real courtroom.” She learned most that you need “to make a decision, where you have to get pros and cons to make a hard decision,” and that “you have to weigh the key differences, and then make that decision. It will cost you some things but you still have to make a decision.”
Furthermore, Addison Zeigler, who also is a senior who attended, found the heart donor to be her favorite to “there being a grey area”,”where people could “come back back with a strong rebuttal.” Moreover, Zeigler added on how when it comes to making decisions like the ones discussed during Ethics day, “you’re coming from your own biases and your own set of ideas..In order to apply your own morals, universally.” Zeigler said that what she learned most from Ethics Day was taking a different perspective and “we all attend the same school but all share so many different ideas and to get to see people’s thought process and why they say certain things”. Both Zeigler and Woodring-Rico agreed that South Lakes should continue Ethics Day as part of one of many of South Lakes annual traditions.
Ethics day has not just become a senior tradition for the senior classes of South Lakes High School, but a way for young adults to be able to take on life altering decisions with a critical and ethical lens. Working with others regardless of their opinions who all have the hope to walk into a better tomorrow.
