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Check It Out! |
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| Roosevelt & Washington Elementary Schools - Burbank, CA |
| This article has been retrieved from the Check it Out! archives for your edification. Enjoy! |
At Roosevelt Elementary school in Burbank, the children are true PeaceBuilders. In fact, they have a mural near the office that lets everyone know.
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Roosevelt's PeaceBuilders mural was created by the Hula Club and dedicated to the school as a reminder of the PeaceBuilders spirit that is so important to everyone at Roosevelt.
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The principal of Roosevelt Elementary, Betsy Quinn, believes the common PeaceBuilders language helps to create that PeaceBuilders spirit. She says, "The implementation of the PeaceBuilders program has had a positive impact on our entire school community. When all of the adults, including parents, have similar expectations and use consistent language with the students, a noticeable change occurs in the climate and culture of the school."
Likewise, George Washington Elementary in Burbank is home to proud PeaceBuilders. Jane Clausen, former principal at the school, credited the PeaceBuilders program with helping students to resolve their conflicts peacefully. She said, "I have learned that conflict is a part of life. It is how you choose to resolve the conflicts that really matters. I believe that the PeaceBuilders Program has given the children and staff at our school the tools to resolve conflicts in positive ways. We ask children are you increasing or decreasing the peace with your actions? They always know the answer regardless of their age. The common language of PeaceBuilders and the PeaceBuilding Principles are what unifies us as a school."
A few years ago, in a symbolic activity that exemplified their unity, the students at Washington created a giant PeaceBuilders puzzle. Each class was given a large piece of the puzzle and each student in the class participated in decorating their piece with the theme of PeaceBuilders in mind. When all the puzzle pieces were decorated, the student body gathered on the playground to put the puzzle together.
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When it was assembled, they found that their puzzle spelled out the message "BUILD PEACE." Since that day, it has hung on a wall in the auditorium as a reminder to all the children to build peace in their lives every day.
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Peace is building all over the city of Burbank, California. We praise all eleven elementary schools and all the other youth-based organizations that are working together to create peaceful environments and maintain a PeaceBuilders city!
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