Featured Sites |
PeacePartners, Inc. honors our valued partners by celebrating their passion for peace, their
creative ideas, and the wonderful implementation strategies they incorporate.
As we continue to support our partners, it is our privilege to showcase PeaceBuilders sites.
Don't just take our word for it. Read about some featured sites as they explored their problems,
developed their PeaceBuilders solution, and discovered positive outcomes! We invite you to sit
back and explore the fantastic PeaceBuilding events happening throughout the United States and
U.S. Territories. |
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| JHS 145 - Bronx, New York |
The inspired junior high school PeaceCoaches at JHS 145 in the Bronx, New York, got together to hone their PeaceBuilders skills. They decided on a number of activities to do to help them build peace at their school, where they serve as role-models for their peers.
To begin their session, the PeaceCoaches took time to think and write about their personal vision of peace. |
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| They wrote about what they would see, hear, and feel in a perfectly peaceful school. |
| After sharing their visions of peace and realizing how common their visions are, the PeaceCoaches participated in a PeaceBuilders activity called “PraiseTrain.” |
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| They all put their name at the top of a piece of paper and then affixed the paper to their backs with a clip. |
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| They walked around the room filling other people’s paper with praise. |
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| Everyone ended up with a page full of praise from their peers. |
The PraiseTrain activity is a fun way to help young people get in the habit of praising each other. The game is exciting while it’s going on, but the real significance occurs when everyone sits down and reads the variety of praise they received from their friends and peers. Sometimes we don’t realize the things other people value in us. Sometimes, we just need to know they notice. Praise helps us appreciate and strengthen our positive attributes.
After the PraiseTrain, the PeaceCoaches at JHS 145 focused on giving up put-downs. They talked about why it’s important to do so and about specific put-downs they each need to give up in order to increase peace and be role-models at their school in an activity called “Burst the Put-Down.” |
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| Each PeaceCoach inflated a balloon and tied it off. |
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| They discussed put-downs that have been said or done to them and how the put-down made them feel; then they talked about put-downs they have used. They wrote them both on their balloons. |
After the discussion, they all committed to give up the put-down they are responsible for using. The fun, the noise, and the excitement came when they burst their balloons to reinforce their commitment!
When older children and teens take on the responsibility of a PeaceBuilders role model, they gain a power and influence that helps them grow and gain confidence. They learn social skills and leadership skills that will benefit them in their academic and professional careers and even in interpersonal relationships.
We know that younger kids look up to older kids and teens as their example and aspire to be like them, so we are especially proud of the PeaceCoaches at JHS 145 for being positive role-models that will help their younger peers learn to build peaceful environments and to live PeaceBuilding lives.
Congratulations to Principal Robert Hannibal and PeaceCoach Advisor Eleanor Ferguson for the success of the PeaceBuilders PeaceCoach program at their school. Their commitment to the young people at JHS 145 has made an enormous difference in the culture and climate of this school and to the future of many young lives. They are teaching young people to take action to make change. They are PeaceBuilders. |
