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Peace
in the face of violence
ISSUE: Peace March
BACKGROUND: There were several violent acts that took place near
the perimeter of the school: a stabbing at a flower shop, a
hit and run resulting in the death of a St. Bernards graduate,
and a racist verbal attack on two African American women on
Martin Luther King Day. The 4th, 5th and 6th grade students
wanted to do something to address the situation.
PROJECT STEPS
- They decided to organize a peace march with neighboring
churches and local police.
- The local police precinct was skeptical
that the young people could do anything about this issue.
The students were not deterred by this response and
took up
the issue with the police captain. He responded favorably.
- The students
attended weekly meetings with folks at neighboring churches
in order to plan a peace march and memorial service at the Lutheran
church. They planned
and organized the peace march to go by each site of violence in the
area around the school. Students also planned a soup dinner held at the end
of the march
at St. Bernards.
RESULT: Among the 400 people who participated in the march
was the mayor of St. Paul, the police, church congregants, neighbors from
the north end
community,
parents, public achievement friends from Kansas City and school staff. |
