International Celebration Of Peace Comes To Newtown

By Eliza Hallabeck & Kendra Bobowick

Nearly 1,100 students, faculty, and staff made their way out onto Reed Intermediate’s soccer field Monday, September 21. Many white T-shirts with the school’s name were visible, and slowly, as people stood next to one another, a large peace sign and the word “peace” came together.

A couple days before, on September 16, an envelope was stamped by the United States Post Office for delivery to The Newtown Bee at 5 Church Hill Road. Contained in the envelope was a letter written by Ryan Marusi from Reed Intermediate School teacher Al Washicko’s fifth grade class.

“This week we are getting ready for International Peace Day, which is September 21, 2009,” Ryan wrote.

Contained in the envelope along with the letter was a colored-in peace sign reading, “International Day Of Peace, September 21, 2009.”

Ryan’s letter was one of roughly 150 that went out in town to local businesses. Each letter asked the recipient to hang the peace sign in a window of the business before Monday, September 21.

“Please keep it displayed through the month of September,” Ryan wrote. “It will be a reminder to everyone to do something to make the world a better place.”

A Letter To The

First Selectman

From Sam Zakur, 10

“Peace Day is a day when people all over the world try to stop fighting,” wrote Reed Intermediate School fifth-grader Samuel Zakur. Like his classmates who this week celebrated September 21 —International Day of Peace — Sam also wrote a letter, his addressed to First Selectman, “The Honorable Joseph Borst.”

His letter explains: “We learned about Peace Day by watching a documentary.” From the film Sam learned about volunteers organizing “children and adults all over the world who will work for peace on September 21.” Appealing to Mr Borst directly, Sam’s letter states, “You can help us by displaying the peace signs that we made … keep it displayed through the month … it will be a reminder to everyone to do something to make the world a better place … people are counting on us to stop fighting, and these signs are our way of reminding everyone.”

He also asks the first selectman to send him a photo of the sign he sent to Mr Borst. Even better, Sam received a reply to his letter, and an invitation that found him standing beside Mr Borst Monday, sign in hand, for a photograph for The Newtown Bee. Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia, who is officially displaying Sam’s sign, said, “He asked us to display it, so here it is!” Shaking hands with the young man, Mr Borst said, “It is always interesting to me to when youngsters get involved. It’s important.”

Posing quickly for a photo, Sam next considered his hopes. “Maybe people stop for a day, then the next day, and maybe there is no more war.”

In his reply to Sam, Mr Borst wrote, “I think it is extremely important that our young citizens take an interest in promoting peace throughout the world. It will be the salvation of your generation and the generations to follow.” With six years of military experience in his past, Mr Borst wrote, “Believe me, war is not the answer.”

With the direction of three teachers and many peers, 150 students drafted letters like Sam’s to Commemorate International Peace Day. One was received by Newtown High School Principal Charles Dumais and put on display for staff, faculty, and students in the school.

 

More Peace

In The District

The letters were only a part of the International Peace Day celebrations happening at Reed Intermediate School this year. Like other schools in the district, Reed noted the day with a special ceremony.

John Farrell, the founder of an international nonprofit program called Bridges of Peace and Hope, which promotes understanding, according to Mr Farrell’s website, and his friend Kofi Donkor, sang songs and spoke about the Bridges of Peace and Hope program.

After asking the students to sing along for the first part of the program, Mr Farrell noted that before singing some students first looked to their neighbors.

“That is peer pressure,” said Mr Farrell. He then asked the students to look forward, and not to their neighbors, when singing along the second time.

The song he sang was called, “What Can We Do To Make Peace?”

“We know we can find a way,” sang Mr Farrell while leading students along in the song. Later he continued, “We can say that we’re sorry. We can walk away. We can try to play fair, no matter what others say.”

By the end of the verse he sang, “Together we’ll make a stand.”

“Peace begins right here,” said Mr Donkor, “inside each one of us.”

Mr Donkor, Mr Farrell said, was raised in Ghana and learned drumming at an early age. He now travels, sharing that knowledge.

Another song both Mr Farrell and Mr Donkor sang for and with the students involved different languages from around the world. The word “hello” and the word “peace” were incorporated into the song and shared in multiple languages with the students.

Two quilts brought for the presentation had images submitted to Mr Farrell from students around the world, and he shared stories from his experiences with the quilts and the students who added to them with Reed on Monday.

One square of the quilt came from South Africa and had the image of a bridge, stars, and hands. Mr Farrell shared of photo of the students and their teacher. One square came from Hudson, N.Y. Another square came from Hamburg, in South Africa, where a student wrote, “I hope that some day I can make everyone’s dreams come true.” That same student wrote she hoped her parents would one day be able to attend her high school graduation.

Two squares of the quilts had also been submitted by students from Reed Intermediate School, he said.

“We all deserve to be treated equally,” said Mr Donkor, “and it starts within us.”

Mr Farrell finished the presentation by saying, “Good luck throughout the rest of the year, and I hope we get to see you again.”

From there students exited the school’s cafetorium, where the presentation took place, and made their way out onto the school’s soccer field. Teachers and staff from Reed waited outside with large signs pointing the direction each class should move in to find their spot on the field. Gradually, as nearly 1,100 students, faculty, and staff made their way out from the school to find their place, a large peace sign and the word “peace” formed.

Newtown Bee Associate Editor and Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue member Shannon Hicks photographed the event from atop the ladder truck of Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company.

Once the peace sign had been formed, and photos taken, the students returned to their classrooms, where teachers had the option of holding further activities to mark the day.

The event at Reed Intermediate kicked-off a new year theme for the school; “Celebrate Peace All Year Long.” Reed Intermediate Principal Sharon Epple said the theme will help link student learning in social studies with learning about the country and the world.

Reed Intermediate School teacher Gina Swanson agreed and said by email Tuesday, “At Reed we are working to create global awareness — in grade five they will study the Western Hemisphere, and in sixth grade, they study Eastern Hemisphere in social studies. When they leave [Reed Intermediate School], they should have a better sense of the cultures, traditions and locations of the countries around them.”

According to Ms Swanson, the school’s International Day of Peace celebration was a coordinated effort between herself, Mary Faith Zanghi, Gael Lynch, Maura Drabik, Lara Brown, the teachers of the Wellness Department, including Aaron Blank, Mark Gerace, Roseann O’Neill, Michelle Failla, and Jason Rivera and the Newtown Hook & Ladder Company, and Reed Intermediate custodians Ron Patterson and Rich Mills.

“This morning I drove into work and spotted three peace signs in the windows of businesses on Route 25. I cheered, ‘Yes,’ as I saw them,” Ms Swanson said Tuesday, “and got tears in my eyes because I was so proud that we have come together not only as a classroom or school, but with our town as a community. It’s not often that we get to blend the classroom with local businesses. Thank you to every Newtown establishment that displayed our peace signs; we really appreciate it.”

Reed Intermediate School will continue to celebrate peace throughout the school year, according to Ms Swanson.

“We will again in October support Trick or Treat for Unicef, and in November we will collect nonperishable food items for the food pantry,” Ms Swanson said. “We will send valentines in February to our troops overseas, and will continue to work with our own classes on individual projects.”

More Music For Peace

In Newtown

At Fraser-Woods Montessori School, students took five minutes to sing for peace at 10:45 am, acting in a joint effort by Montessori schools throughout the world to sing one song around the world. According to the school, an estimated 80,000 students in Montessori schools around the world, in 35 different countries, sang for five minute intervals at their respective schools to bring the song around the world for a day. The song they sang was called “Light A Candle.”

According to the school, helping children understand and participate in events promoting peace around the world will develop adults who will be able to promote peace in their community.

Local businesses who received a letter and peace sign from a Reed Intermediate student can email a photo, with the business’s name, to editor@thebee.com for inclusion in a photo collection on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook page.

More information on the International Day Of Peace can be found at www.internationaldayofpeace.org. More information on John Farrell and the Bridges of Peace and Hope program can be found at www.bridgesofpeaceandhope.org. More information about the Montessori schools’ effort to sing around the world can be found at www.singpeacearoundtheworld.blogspot.com.