A panel of staff from Piedmont Middle School and Piedmont High participated in the first-ever Academic Integrity Night on Thursday, Sep 20.

Moderator Stephanie Rafanelli, a Piedmont parent and educational consultant, said that the discussion would attempt to answer the underlying question of “Why are students cheating?”

The panel included high school librarian Susan Stutzman, sixth grade core teacher Joci Kelleher, high school history teachers Courtney Goen and Dave Keller, and high school science teacher Tom Huffaker. Rafanelli asked the panelists five predetermined questions about cheating and academic integrity.

“We need to ‘de-catastrophize’ failure,” said Kelleher in response to a question about what parents can do to help encourage academic integrity. “I see kids who think that a B is the end of the world, that their parents are going to ‘kill them’ if they bring home that grade. We as parents need to emphasize that we don’t expect perfection.”

Several of the panelists suggested discussing challenging class topics at home to foster deeper understanding. “Bring up history over dinner! What could be better?” said Goen.

The panelists also identified the forms of cheating they see most and what they do to combat it, what consequences for cheating should be and what kind of collaboration is acceptable. Rafanelli then collected anonymous questions from the 40 assembled parents, and the panelists answered as many as they could.

The next event in the yearlong Education Speaker Series will be on October 25 with psychologist Madeline Levine, at which she will address the myth that a child’s academic achievements define parenting success. Admission to all events in the Speaker Series is free.