Practicing Nonviolence, Friendship At Meadowbrook

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Meadowbrook Farms Elementary School came alive a bit more than usual this year. School librarian Laura Gladding used King's nonviolence teachings to encourage students to notice acts of peace and kindness around them.

"They took it and ran," said Gladding last week. "We've talked about being a peaceful citizen and how you can do that."

Students and staff were encouraged to fill out heart-shaped papers with acts of kindness and peace that they witnessed. The result were hundreds of hearts. With the heart theme, it seemed natural to have the project culminate on Valentine's Day. 

The pictures here show a sampling of the hearts that were submitted and one of the several posters created to illustrate kind and peaceful behavior.