Pinwheels for Peace Project

As we launch into year 3 of our PeaceBuilders program, September's kick-off activity in all of our schools is to participate in the "Pinwheels for Peace Project." Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two Art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, who teach at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, as a way for their students to express their feelings about what's going on in the world and in their lives. The project was quickly embraced by their students and the entire school community and by millions of art teachers, teachers, parents, children and adults who desire peace in our world. The project is timed to coincide with World Peace Day, which is September 21st of each year, with the theme "Imagine Whirled Peace."

In our schools, all students will create pinwheels and encouraged to decorate them with messages related to the PeaceBuilders guiding principles: to praise people, to give up put-downs, to seek wise people, to notice and speak up about hurts I have caused, to right wrongs, and to help others. These messages are part of the broader theme of PeaceBuilders to build peace at home, at school, and in the community.

Since World Peace Day 2013 coincides with the Belchertown Fair, the pinwheels will be collected and installed along State Street and near the fair as a welcoming message to visitors!

As always, if you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please feel free to call me at 413.323.0423 or email me at superintendent@belchertown.org.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools