Malibu Elementary School Hosts Peace Day Celebration

MALIBU, CA — Malibu Elementary School students held a celebration of the United Nations International Day of Peace that included dancing, singing, quotes from famous peace leaders and the formation of a giant human peace sign, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District said.

Students collaborated with Zoe Langley, a retired longtime educator of Malibu Peace Works, for the performance. Families, teachers, staff and students enjoyed the performance and the themes of the event were reinforced in the weeks leading up to Peace Day, the district said. The activities coincided with the United Nations 2019 theme "Climate Action for Peace."

Art teacher Nicole Fisher collaborated with Langley and helped student make peace flags. The students' artwork reflected "heartfelt messages of peace and environmentalism," the press release said.

"International Peace Day was a success!" Principal Chris Hertz said. "Ms. Langley brought this popular program from Cabrillo School to our school, and we are very grateful. We are encouraging and inspiring students in environmental and peace activism as part of our deep learning initiative and this event created a great experience for our students."

The teachers are developing project-based learning programs to ultimately lead students to be active citizens for the greater good, Hertz said.

"While marine science will drive most of our projects, we felt that peace day was a perfect fit for our school," Hertz said.

Langley said the performance was a high-energy, joyful celebration. The students proudly performed multicultural dances to music from around the world to show how music and dance connects people, Langley said.

Students performed and read quotes by famous peace leaders including John F. Kennedy, Malala Yousafzai, Florence Nightingale, Anne Frank, Helen Keller, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Dr. Wangari Maathai, and Cesar Chavez. The finale was a sing along to the song "Give Peace a Chance" by John Lennon, with students, staff, parents and guests meeting on the playground to form a giant human peace symbol to wrap up the day of celebrating peace at Malibu Elementary School, the press release said.