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Public Trust

Lesson 3:

From Unit Character Education: Trustworthiness (Grade 8)

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

6th-8th Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Brainstorming; Communicate; Constructing Meaning; Group Discussions; Personal Response; Response to Text/Others; Teamwork
PHIL:	Advocacy; Character Education: Trustworthiness; Common Good; Contribute; Leadership; Reflection; Trustworthiness
SOC:	Analyze/Interpret; Civic Responsibility/Virtue; Compare/Contrast; Cooperative Groups; Good Character

Purpose:

Students learn about public trust and identify characteristics of public figures that merit trust. They also discuss how they can use their own time, talent, and treasure to support trustworthy politicians, sports figures, corporations, and celebrities.

Duration:

One 20-minute lesson

Objectives:

The learner will:

identify attributes of public trust.
discuss how to promote public trust.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

This character education mini-lesson is not intended to be a service learning lesson or to meet the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. The character education units will be most effective when taught in conjunction with a student-designed service project that provides a real world setting in which students can develop and practice good character and leadership skills. For ideas and suggestions for organizing service events go to generationon.org.

Materials:

student copies of Attachment One: Paul Newman

Handout 1: Paul Newman

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set

Teacher: In the previous lesson, we learned that communities build trust through their actions. Today, we will look at public trust. Politicians, journalists, and major corporations want to earn the public trust. But appearing trustworthy and being trustworthy are not the same thing. One aspect of developing trust is through honesty in which words and feelings match thoughts and actions. Through today's communication methods, people hear news of what is going on in the world from many sources; it is not always easy to tell which people are trustworthy.

Have students raise their hands if they can think of the name of a public person or company that they trust (believe their words and actions match) in the following categories.
- Can you think of a politician you trust?
- Can you think of a TV personality you trust?
- Can you think of a sports star you trust?
- Can you think of a retail store you trust?
- Can you think of a celebrity you trust?
Tell the students that they are going to read about a celebrity who also owned a major corporation. After reading they will discuss whether this person/company is trustworthy and why or why not.
Give each student a copy of Attachment One: Paul Newman. Have them read and discuss the article in small groups.
As a whole group, discuss how Paul Newman and Newman's Own earned public trust.
Discuss how students themselves can use their own time, talent, and treasure to support trustworthy politicians, sports figures, corporations, and celebrities. Define advocacy as "to write or speak or act in favor of a person or ideal." Discuss whether we have a responsibility as citizens to be advocates and to take action to support public figures who show trustworthiness.

Bibliographical References:

Giving Back.org. "The Giving Back 30" http://www.givingback.org/Programs_Services/GivingBack30_2008.html

Newman's Own. http://newmansown.com/

Wikipedia "Paul Newman" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman

Lesson Developed By:

Betsy Flikkema
Associate Director
Learning to Give

Barbara Dillbeck
Director
Learning to Give

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Paul Newman

Paul Newman (1925–2008) was as well-known for his acting career as his philanthropic [giving for the common good] endeavors. He was an actor respected and renowned by critics and audiences alike. He received many awards for his acting, including a Best Actor Academy Award for his role in The Color of Money. Other of his films include Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting.

Newman used his name recognition to gain attention and support for issues that were important to him. He was a political activist and spoke up for many causes, including children with illness, drug abuse, and homelessness. His name creates visibility of his philanthropic activity, and the entrepreneurial accomplishments of his food product company, Newman's Own.

Newman led the way in corporate philanthropy with the company Newman's Own and its remarkable policy of donating 100% of the proceeds (after taxes) to charitable [related to giving to the needy] organizations. He and friend A.E. Hotchner conceived the idea to launch a business using the homemade salad dressing that the Newmans originally gave out as holiday gifts.

The combination of popular name recognition and a good product allowed the company to donate close to $1 million in its first year of operation. Newman himself recognizes the value of his endorsement [public support for] with the motto of the company reading, "shameless exploitation in pursuit of the common good." The original product, Newman's Own Salad Dressing, has grown into a whole product line of dressings, salsa, popcorn, steak sauce, pasta sauce, fruit cocktail juice, and lemonade. Each of the products is made with all natural ingredients, according to the Newman's Own Web site. As of October, 2008, the donations to charities exceeded $280 million (http://newmansown.com/).

Until his death in 2008, Paul Newman was involved in many charitable organizations through board membership and continuous financial support. In 2008, he was named the Most Generous Celebrity by Givingback.org. He contributed $20,857,000 for the year of 2008 (Wikipedia) to the Newman’s Own Foundation, which distributes funds to a variety of charities. He continued to act in and direct plays and feature films.

Discuss the following questions:

1. How did Paul Newman build trust with the general public?

2. In what way did he show himself to be reliable?

3. How did being trustworthy help him do what was important to him?

4. What role does trust play in giving and helping others?