Check It Out! |
|
| Francis Elementary - Ada, OK |
Teaching at a PeaceBuilders school has definite rewards. PeaceBuilding children, who are
regularly recognized and acknowledged for good behavior, are more respectful of others, they
get along better, and they are more adept at resolving their own conflicts.
But it takes time to create a PeaceBuilders environment. Changes begin to happen immediately,
but persistence and consistency make the changes pervasive and permanent.
Francis Elementary is in its second year of PeaceBuilding, and they have built so much peace
already.
The staff at Francis presents peace certificates each week. The have held a school wide peace
Pow-wow, and they participated in our nationwide Pennies for Peace campaign in March of 2009,
during which PeaceBuilders sites raised over 700,000 pennies to help build
schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
|
 |
This Francis Elementary School student adds her pennies to help the
"Pennies for Peace" cause.
|
In September, this dedicated school also joined PeaceBuilders sites across the
nation as we celebrated International Peace Day by creating Pinwheels for Peace.
|
 |
These beautiful children learned about International Peace
Day and had fun creating their own pinwheels.
|
 |
Planting the pinwheels in the ground for others to see and appreciate
was part of the plan. This young man plants a beautiful pinwheel that will spin in the
breeze to symbolize "whirled" peace.
|
Teachers and staff at Francis Elementary are teaching youth how they can be part of
a nationwide and world-wide movement for peace. They are also finding ways to make peace
part of the daily curriculum. Along with these big, site-wide events, they keep discussions
about peace and the PeaceBuilders Principles going in their classrooms and on the school yard.
Just by using the language of the PeaceBuilders Pledge as they interact with children day by
day, they are instilling the principles of peace and coaching young children to be builders
not spectators.
Building peace is a daily process. And the wise adults at Francis Elementary are building a great future.
|
|
| Return to Check It Out |
