Local High School Seniors Win Peace Award

According to a Robbinsdale School District press release:

Seniors Marissa Soliz, from , and Katie Bowden, from Robbinsdale Cooper High School, received the Rose Rees Peace Award for their passion for and commitment to international relations and world peace. It is the 77th year for this award. The young women were honored at a reception May 2.

Marissa believes that countries who are trying to create a higher standard of living for their citizens, as well as countries that already have a high standard of living, can create or sustain that standard of living with a smaller environmental footprint.  Using renewable resources, along with the science of engineering, can result in the transformation of renewable raw materials, such as soybean oil, into useful products, and a more sustainable world.  Marissa is majoring in Chemistry and wishes to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering so she can see where her products go, and how they help.

Katie, through her work with the organization World Without Genocide, realized that genocide is borne out of bullying, and started to think about ways in which she could reach the problem at its roots.  She committed herself to working with children of a younger age to teach them about the consequences of bullying.  She was named to the planning committee for next year’s World Without Genocide summer institute, which this year was held at William Mitchell College of Law.

The Rose Rees Peace Awards have been given annually since 1935 and are named in honor of Rose Rees, president of the Minneapolis Section of the National Council of Jewish Women. Winners of the award are nominated by their teachers.