Day 11 – Presentation and Distribution at Hinsdale Central High School

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4/30/19 – Tuesday

Today, Margaret Pearson and I went to my school, Hinsdale Central, to talk to Drivers Education classes throughout the day. During the same time, I was also able to visit my classes and distribute Life Goes On materials to them. Before handing out materials, I gave a brief introduction to organ and tissue donation. After that, I distributed the materials. These materials included wristbands, footballs, pens, pamphlets, keychains, etc. The classes took these with excitement, and many were playing with them and talking about the presentation even after class.

We presented to the Drivers Ed. classes the same way we did at Naperville Central High School. We began with slides of famous individuals who underwent organ transplants, such as Ariana Grande. Then, we move on to the organs that can be donated, how the process works, and cover common misconceptions that people claim prevent them from donation. We go into depth on the importance of organ donation, and try to appeal to teens in particular. The reason for this is because last year in 2018, a legislation was passed allowing for 16 and 17 year olds to join the Illinois registry. In prior years, the age required to register was 18. The concept behind this age drop was that if people are old enough to drive, they should be able to make the choice of donation. They are still minors, however, and the ultimate decision still lies in the hands of the parents until they are 18 years old. This means that their decision could be redacted at the time of death. For this reason, we stress the importance of discussing with one’s family after they make the decision of organ and tissue donation.

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