May 15, 2002
Rally promotes peace
Hundreds of elementary students attend annual Peace Rally
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
From team-building games to songs to get-to-know-you exercises, hundreds of area elementary school students converged on Central High School Thursday for the Fifth Annual Peace Rally.
The students who attended serve as peacekeepers in their schools, settling disputes among students in a non-confrontational manner. The rally was a way to thank them for their efforts and to reinforce the teaching and practice of peace for these student volunteers.
"The Peace Rallies started when TCAPS social workers got together and thought it would be nice to celebrate the Peacekeeper students," said Selden Kalbfleisch, a social worker at Central High School.
The Peace Rally also allows students to make friends with like-minded students from schools around the district. These will be friendships they can draw on as the reach junior high and high school.
"This rally is really a great way to meet new people and it helps us to learn more about how we can help others," said Seth Hoard, a sixth-grade student at Cherry Knoll Elementary School attending his second Peace Rally. "I think that it's pretty important for students to learn how to behave in school and once they do, it will be a lot more fun for them and others."
Ashley Hickman, a fifth-grade student at Sabin Elementary school, agreed that the Peace Rally and the Peacekeepers program are great ways to make friends.
"I signed up to be a Peacekeeper at school because I wanted to solve problems, I like to solve problems," she said. "I can help people arguing over little stuff."
The Peacekeepers program also helps the whole school, not just conflicting parties.
"I think the Peacekeepers make a huge difference," said Marj Middle, a social worker at Blair Elementary School. "They set an example of solving conflicts in a peaceful way for everyone. And at Blair, we've had it for so long, just their presence on the playground reminds the kids."
Middle sees a long-term benefits to being a Peacemaker.
"These are skills they can use the rest of their lives and it looks great on their resume," she added.
The all-day Peace Rally also featured local singing duo Mary Ann Rivers and Donna Shugart, who led the students in singing peace and folk songs.
The Peace Rally grew out of the Peacekeepers program, a ten-year-old program that helps resolve conflicts among students. Peacekeepers are student volunteers in grades 3-6 who patrol the playground at recess times.
Most elementary schools in the Traverse City Area Public Schools district have a Peacekeeper program. The idea originated at Blair Elementary School ten years ago, prompted by the school improvement committee and spearheaded by a social worker there. The idea spread to other schools and while they may have different names - at Cherry Knoll it is known as the Job Squad - the idea is the same: settle disputes among students quickly and fairly.
Conflict resolution training at the beginning of the school year teaches Peacekeepers to solve conflicts with words. However, anytime more than two people are involved in a dispute, a teacher must intervene. Most times, Peacekeepers can resolve the common playground upsets on their own.
Peacekeepers are trained to separate the conflicting parties to allow feelings to cool down. Then they bring them back together to discuss their differences. Each person gets to talk and then everyone works together to solve the problem.
"I like helping people and I don't like fights," said Kristen Vermetten, a sixth-grade student at Bertha Vos Elementary School who has been a Peacekeeper for four years. "If I can help solve problems it makes me feel good inside."
"The most satisfying thing is that there is less fighting at school now," she noted.