Post by title1parent on Sept 22, 2009 5:15:46 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1783300,6_1_NA22_PEACE_S1-090922.article
Working to make a difference
Brookdale Elementary celebrates Peace Day
September 22, 2009
By KATIE MORELL For The Sun
"It is very important for us to reflect and think about what peace means to us -- we don't do that enough," said 96th District Rep. Darlene Senger on Monday night at Brookdale Elementary School in Naperville.
As the sun was setting, parents, students, staff, and community leaders gathered behind the school to celebrate International Peace Day, a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly and sponsored by ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation to celebrate peace with words and art.
Children from Brookdale and surrounding areas read aloud quotes from famous peace leaders including Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. The Mosaic Ensemble choir from Waubonsie Valley High School sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth" and then led a sing-along of the song while students waved glow sticks. The crowd recited a peace pledge and then honored peace by standing for a minute of silence.
On the arts front, children decorated pinwheels and umbrellas with peaceful pictures and showed them off to the crowd.
Linda Heller, an art teacher at Nancy Young Elementary School in Aurora, presented the artwork citing a quote, "an umbrella does nothing until its open -- then it shelters you," she said, alluding to the children's art. "You have to work for peace. Open your heart, open your mind and let peace happen."
ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation, an organization that dedicates one month per year to peace-related celebrations, chose Brookdale for Monday's event for one reason: its new peace garden.
"Last year on Sept. 11th, my fourth grade class started thinking of cool things to do for a project for peace," said Rachael Batchu, a fourth grade teacher at Brookdale. "With the help of parents, volunteers and students, we got the whole fourth grade involved with building a peace garden."
About 10 feet from Monday's ceremony sat the garden, a open area with flowers and a path encircling a peace pole -- complete with peaceful sayings in 12 of the school's most-spoken languages. The garden was officially unveiled June 1, a day that has "now been designated Naperville Peace Garden Day," Batchu said with a big smile.
Brooke Dillmann, 10, a fifth-grader in Mrs. Carstens' class at Brookdale, felt strongly about the preservation of peace.
"To me, peace means people working together to make a difference in the world," she said. "It is pretty important to me."
Katie Reed, 9, a fourth grader in Batchu's class, had her own ideas regarding peace.
"Peace means no violence in the world," she said. "I think we can achieve world peace."
While this was Naperville's first year celebrating International Peace Day, it will not be its last, according to Senger.
"The thing that is unique about this community is that we have a lot of diversity," she said. "I want to recognize that and continue this from year to year."
Working to make a difference
Brookdale Elementary celebrates Peace Day
September 22, 2009
By KATIE MORELL For The Sun
"It is very important for us to reflect and think about what peace means to us -- we don't do that enough," said 96th District Rep. Darlene Senger on Monday night at Brookdale Elementary School in Naperville.
As the sun was setting, parents, students, staff, and community leaders gathered behind the school to celebrate International Peace Day, a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly and sponsored by ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation to celebrate peace with words and art.
Children from Brookdale and surrounding areas read aloud quotes from famous peace leaders including Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. The Mosaic Ensemble choir from Waubonsie Valley High School sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth" and then led a sing-along of the song while students waved glow sticks. The crowd recited a peace pledge and then honored peace by standing for a minute of silence.
On the arts front, children decorated pinwheels and umbrellas with peaceful pictures and showed them off to the crowd.
Linda Heller, an art teacher at Nancy Young Elementary School in Aurora, presented the artwork citing a quote, "an umbrella does nothing until its open -- then it shelters you," she said, alluding to the children's art. "You have to work for peace. Open your heart, open your mind and let peace happen."
ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation, an organization that dedicates one month per year to peace-related celebrations, chose Brookdale for Monday's event for one reason: its new peace garden.
"Last year on Sept. 11th, my fourth grade class started thinking of cool things to do for a project for peace," said Rachael Batchu, a fourth grade teacher at Brookdale. "With the help of parents, volunteers and students, we got the whole fourth grade involved with building a peace garden."
About 10 feet from Monday's ceremony sat the garden, a open area with flowers and a path encircling a peace pole -- complete with peaceful sayings in 12 of the school's most-spoken languages. The garden was officially unveiled June 1, a day that has "now been designated Naperville Peace Garden Day," Batchu said with a big smile.
Brooke Dillmann, 10, a fifth-grader in Mrs. Carstens' class at Brookdale, felt strongly about the preservation of peace.
"To me, peace means people working together to make a difference in the world," she said. "It is pretty important to me."
Katie Reed, 9, a fourth grader in Batchu's class, had her own ideas regarding peace.
"Peace means no violence in the world," she said. "I think we can achieve world peace."
While this was Naperville's first year celebrating International Peace Day, it will not be its last, according to Senger.
"The thing that is unique about this community is that we have a lot of diversity," she said. "I want to recognize that and continue this from year to year."