When we were children, my siblings and I would tease when we couldn’t locate our mother. Before the tethered leash of cellular phones, if mom wasn’t around we would all assume she was, “off at some peacemaking conference”. Mom may have been to one or two actual peacemaking conferences in her life, but often talked about improving the world through making peace, so it stuck in jest. I had no idea how her subtle statements about a more just world would find their way into my own teaching and hopes for children. Peace begins with simply understanding others.
My ears perk when I hear about someone else who toils to weave timeless virtue into the relentless academic requirements of public education these days. Recently, a teacher in my district was named for her efforts towards peacemaking. Sue Seyfarth, someone I know just barely, but who sought me out as a kindred soul, will be receiving the Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contributions to International Understanding, next week. This award is given “to a citizen of the State of Michigan who has made a distinct, sustained contribution to international understanding in their respective communities or in the state at large” according to the MSU International Studies Program. With all of the hype of celebrity benevolence, organizations that honor subtle, valuable virtues at the classroom and community level should receive more recognition. Here’s to Sue, and my mom, and all the other folks who move our world toward a more peaceful tomorrow through and for our children.
Check out these local (to Michigan) organizations who value this too:
www.latticeworld.org - LATTICE is a learning community and international network that cultivates and supports a global perspective in K-12 classrooms through personal and professional development opportunities.
www.iearn.org - iEARN has pioneered on-line school linkages to enable students to engage in meaningful educational projects with peers in their countries and around the world.
www.gluna.org - The Greater Lansing United Nations Association fosters cooperative relationships with Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, local schools, school districts and the community at large as it seeks to advocate for and support the mission and programs of the United Nations.