For the month of June Peaceful Schools International encouraged its member schools to share some of the activities that were done in their schools to help maintain a Culture of Peace all year long!  Here is an example:

A Safe and Caring Amalgamated Academy

School today is much more than reading, writing and arithmetic and the Safe and Caring School Committee of Amalgamated Academy is ensuring that this is the case.  Character development is such an important aspect of school life and events that help shape this are the ones that you will remember in the years to come.  Many events have been held at Amalgamated over this school year.  For example, we have had our Anti-bullying Stand Up Assembly, a Grade 9 Job Shadowing Day and a Newfoundland Cultural Day where we were joined by musicians Jim Payne and Fergus O’Byrne.  On-going is also our Roots of Empathy program in Ms. Ryan’s Grade 4 class.  Just recently the Safe and Caring student committee held a Good News Café at the Pentecostal Seniors Home in Clarke’s Beach, where the students put off a concert complete with singing, guitars, violin, accordion, piano, poetry and food (of course).  In the weeks to come we have RMCP officer John Clarke coming in to present to the Grade 8 and 9 students on Internet Safety and he will be back again the following month to present on Drug and Alcohol Awareness.  As well, in the near future we have two community members coming into the school to speak to our students about their upcoming Nicaragua visit.  This is just a small sample of the many events that are occurring at our busy school.  If you are interested in joining Amalgamated’s Safe and caring committee, feel free to contact the school at any time.

**This is the first in a series of stories and testimonials from PSI member schools about the impact we are having around the world. Stay tuned here for new stories as they are released!  

Leary’s Brook Junior High School, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, has been a member of Peaceful Schools International since April 2002. This time in our school history proved to be quite a challenge for the Leary’s Brook school community as it saw school reform move from a denominational school system to neighbourhood schools. The year prior to its inaugural membership in PSI, Leary’s Brook received students from 14 separate feeder schools. Building community was key to the school’s success, and membership in PSI proved to be the catalyst for the school in establishing an ethos of collaboration, caring and respect for all.

It was apparent in reviewing the membership criteria for PSI that this organization already had a vision for schools which was right in line with what we aspired to be. The decision to embark upon the Peaceful Schools journey was our next step forward.

Continue reading The School that Peace Built: Peaceful Schools Initiatives at Leary →

Schools across province take part in campaign to battle intimidation
By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau
Friday, September 10, 2010
NS Chronicle Herald

Many students throughout Nova Scotia were attired in pink Thursday as a reminder that bullying will not be tolerated in their schools.

Activities on the third annual Stand Up Against Bullying Day included the wearing of pink T-shirts, assemblies and projects about peace.

Some students made anti-bullying art and poetry, held discussions about bullying or had guest speakers and team-building exercises.

“But addressing issues of bullying needs to be something that happens all year round,” said Clare Levin, executive director of Peaceful Schools International, in an interview.

Continue reading Pink day spreads anti-bullying message →

How many summer camps offer solar cooking, guerrilla gardening, puppetry, and a dozen lessons in ways to make the world a more peaceful place?

We’re not sure exactly, but there’s at least one hosted by Peaceful Schools International, and it runs Aug. 16- 20 at Saint Mary’s University.

The Summer Peace Camp is a five-day interactive camp for youth ages 8 to 13 created to help children better understand peace and how people can live peacefully together. The program provides an opportunity for youth to come together to explore, experiment, and experience the value of peace through creative and fun activities.

“It’s amazing to see how willing children are to become engaged in the idea of peace and what it means to them,” says Bridget Brownlow, Saint Mary’s Conflict Resolution Advisor and an organizer of the camp. “Their ideas about how to achieve peace in the world last year made all the adults in the room really stop and think.”

Saint Mary’s is a committed member of Peaceful Schools International and is delighted to host the camp for a second year, said Brownlow.

Peaceful Schools International is a respected source of support and guidance for more than 300 schools in 13 countries working to build a more peaceful world. Saint Mary’s students have volunteered to assist with the camp. The work is an expansion of their volunteer efforts in supporting conflict resolution skills for youth in schools locally and internationally.

“We’re offering children an opportunity to actively use their creativity to learn ways of making peace at many levels,” said Saidu Timbo, a Peaceful Schools International volunteer from Sierra Leone who will be one of the facilitators at the camp.

N.S. schools should offer peer mediation course, says ex-teacher
By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter
NS Chronicle Herald (link to article on the Herald website)

Just like reading, writing and arithmetic, Hetty van Gurp wants peace education to become part of the curriculum in Nova Scotia schools.

The issue is personal for the former teacher who founded the charitable organization Peaceful Schools International in 2001. Her 14-year-old son, Ben, died in 1991 as a result of a bullying incident at the Halifax school he was attending.

Continue reading Advocate: Put peace on par with other academic subjects →

This summer, Peaceful Schools International is again hosting the Art of Peace Summer Camp for 8 – 13 year-olds. The camp, offered for the first time in 2009, provides children with an opportunity to creatively explore the meaning of peace – within ourselves, in our communities and in the world. Local artists and peace activists visited and will make presentations throughout the camp. Children will learn about peace through activities such as drama, puppetry, tie-dye, and writing. Participants also have the opportunity to learn about global peace through learning about what life is like for children their age in Sierra Leone and Pakistan.

“The peace camp experience was wonderful for our daughters Hannah (age 10) and Claire (age 9). The staff were committed and caring, and created an environment that allowed for Hannah and Claire to broaden and deepen their understanding of peace, co-operation, and environmental awareness while all the time having fun with new friends. They’ll be back next year for sure!.”
– Peter James (parent)

In 2010, the peace camp will run August 16-20 at Saint Mary’s University. 

The Canadian Living “Me to We” awards recognizes everyday Canadian heroes – the ones who put “we” before “me”. This year, Hetty van Gurp, founder of Peaceful Schools International was nominated for and won the award in the social action cateogry. A quote from the article:

“Hetty, a teacher, introduced a campaign called “Lessons in Living” in 1991; its aim, to teach students how to live and learn together. “It’s a child’s right to feel safe at school,” says the activist.”

Winners of the “Me to We” award were announced in the October 2009 issue of Canadian Living. Each winner receives $5,000 to donate to a charity of their choice.

On March 1, 2005, Richard J. Codey, the Acting Governor of the state of New Jersey, proclaimed the day as “Peaceful Schools International Day” in honour of Millstone River School becoming the first school in the state of New Jersey to become a member of PSI!

On March 1, 2010, PSI founder Hetty van Gurp will join the Millstone School community to celebrate this important day.

Flag to fly at Pearson headquarters

Karen Seidman
The Gazette
Thursday, May 28, 2009

CREDIT: PIERRE OBENDRAUF, THE GAZETTE

Board chairman Marcus Tabachnick and the Allion school choir accept Peaceful School award from Hetty van Gurp on behalf of the Lester B. Pearson board. The board is the first to receive the honour.

Lester B. Pearson School Board officials might have been proud recently to receive a Peaceful Schools flag from the founder of the movement, Hetty van Gurp, but it was van Gurp herself who was proudest that an entire school board had adopted her philosophy.

It is the only school board on the continent to have done so.

Schools mostly sign up for the Peaceful Schools initiative individually, but the Pearson board embraced van Gurp’s ideology from the beginning in 2002 and encouraged all of its West Island schools to participate and to become peaceful schools.

So when van Gurp presented Pearson officials with one of the organization’s flags for its head office in Dorval, she did so knowing that it was the only school board headquarters in North America that would have one of her flags flying.

And for van Gurp, who lost her 14-year-old son in a violent bullying incident in 1991, it was as proud a moment as she could have to honour the memory of her cherished boy.

“It is very unusual to have a whole school board do this,” van Gurp said in an interview. “They are the one and only school board, and to me they represent the pinnacle of success. I am hopeful that other school boards will follow their lead.”

Van Gurp’s Peaceful Schools International is based in Nova Scotia and includes about 300 schools in 14 countries as members. While not every Pearson school flies a Peaceful Schools flag, all have participated in workshops to learn the Peaceful Schools philosophy and all work at keeping it going in their schools.

Continue reading Board honoured for embracing peace →