form of punishmentbecause the child is given achoice.”

In fact, Woltanski saidshe believes there is meritbehind using exercise asdiscipline rather than mak-ing students perform somemundane scholastic rou-tine.

“If the consequence isacademic, that makes aca-demics seem like punish-ment,” she said.

But Maher says the prac-tice is uselessly punitive.

“The consequencesmake no difference if theyare not immediate. Thekids have no idea. It’s justpunishment,” Maher said.

The Ocean Studies Char-ter School began in 2011. Itis the only school in theKeys that bases its curricu-lum specifically on marinesciences. In the three yearssince opening, its enroll-ment has doubled to morethan 72 students. Its charterallows for up to 116 stu-dents. The school serveschildren in the first- tothird-grade age group.

The school is a publiccharter school, meaning itis funded with taxpayerdollars but is run by a pri-vate board of directors.

Woltanski said she hasnot heard from any other

parents about the walkingpunishment except Maher.But Maher said he has dis-cussed the issue with sever-al parents who share hisconcern.

“A lot of people didn’tknow what was going on and they are really” angry,

Maher said. “It’s beengoing on since the begin-ning of the school year.”

Woltanski is also upsetMaher took the issue to thepress before Monday’smeeting.

“Honestly, I don’t thinkit’s fair,” she said.

Teachers to present disciplinepolicy at Monday meetingDISCIPLINE from 1A

struck by a car in January2012 while jogging on theNational Mall in Washing-ton, D.C. She was just 26years old.

To honor Talia, Agler, a“semi-retired” Boca Ratonrabbi who now lives inKey Largo, and Rev. PamFeeser, manager of theCommunity Health Min-istries in the Upper Keys,are challenging the localcommunity to live by herexample and becomeorgan donors. Talia was anoutspoken proponent oforgan donation.

Agler and Feeser’s goalis to sign up 2,300 newdonors in the Upper Keysin December. Those inter-ested can go donatelife-florida.org. You can alsogo to your local stateDepartment of HighwaySafety and Motor Vehiclesoffice.

The effort is champi-oned by Rev. Kerry Foote,pastor of Burton MemorialUnited Methodist Churchin Tavernier.

Since Talia died, herorgans have helped savethe lives of five people. Inall, one of her lungs, bothkidneys, her pancreas andliver were donated.

“In their final hours,they gave a lifetime,”

Agler said, quoting aphrase used by organ-donor advocates. “This isas profound an impact wecan have on someone’slife.”

Earlier this year, Agler,61 and his wife, Mindy,56, got to meet LeFebvre.She and her husband Barttraveled from their Damas-cus, Md., home with anews crew from a Wash-ington, D.C.-based televi-sion station to meet theAglers.

“Meeting them was veryemotional, but it was prob-ably one of the best days ofmy life,” LeFebvre saidthis week. “Just to be ableto thank them in personwas totally amazing.”

Agler said of the meet-ing, “It was a lot of things.It was kind of surreal onone level, but also veryemotional. Here is some-one who is alive becauseof this donation. Here is awoman who has a husbandand children who is at thecenter of their lives again.This really kind of made itvery real for us.”

The Aglers have twoother grown children —Sarah, 24, who lives inNew York, and Jesse, 31, aradio sportscaster for theMiami Dolphins.

LeFebvre, a 63-year-oldmother of three, had three

heart attacks in six hoursone day in 2008. After-ward, her heart was pump-ing at only 30 percentcapacity. For the next threeyears, doctors kept her alivewith the use of an artificialpacemaker and a heartpump.

LeFebvre was placed ona waiting list for a hearttransplant in 2011. Shewaited a year and twoweeks before her surgeonsreplaced her heart withTalia’s. The organ startedbeating regularly as soon asit became part of LeFeb-vre’s body.

“I haven’t had any signsof rejection or anything,”she said. Her latest testsshow the heart is pumpingat 98 to 98 percent capacity.

Talia’s legacy is not onlyleft with the lives herdonated organs helpedsave. A shelter for girls andyoung women in Nairobi,Kenya, bears her name.While in college at Ameri-can University, sheinterned at orphanages forKenya’s Centre for Domes-tic Training and Develop-ment.

The experience movedTalia to devote her lives tohelping others. She wasworking for an internation-al development contractorin D.C. when she died.

Feeser hopes Talia’s

story will help people real-ize they can offer someonein need a saving gift at nocost.

“We have received theamazing gift of life by thegrace of God, and in returnand out of gratitude, wehave the awesome opportu-nity to give life to others,”she said. “One of the most

effective ways, withabsolutely no financialinvestment, is we are ableto donate our organs. Butwe must do that by indicat-ing our intentions now.”

For more information onTalia’s life and organdonation, go to rabbia-gler.net.

The Reporter | KeysNet.com FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013 3A

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Shelter in Nairobi named in honor of Talia

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Talia Agler has fun during a family vacation. She was an advocate for girls and youngwomen in Kenya. (Photo courtesy of the Agler family)