Gifford Students Share Their Visions Of Peace

After the mass shootings in Oak Creek and Sandy Hook Elementary, the students at Gifford Elementary School had a lot to say about peace and the absence of peace in a schoolwide art and writing project.

The youngsters at the Caledonia school wrote about gun violence, divorce and being bullied. They wrote about how the world needed more love, kindness and respect. They wrote about finding friends, the value of peace and appreciating each others' differences.

Now their work will now become a "Peace Book," said Samantha Thorson, the school's anti-bully coordinator.

The idea of making a book about peace came from the book titled “A Million Visions Of Peace: Wisdom From The Friends Of Old Turtle” by two peace educators Jennifer Garrison and Andrew Tubesing. They traveled to 48 states in eight months and collected 500,000 visions of peace from 150 communities.

Thorson said the book inspired her.

“We want to make sure our schools are bully-free for the safety of our students,” Thorson said. “We also wanted to make a peace book because our students really take it (our anti-bullying environment) seriously."

During the writing and artwork exercise, students wrote their vision of peace and their ideas spanned a wide variety of topics.

Kindergartner Carson Fletcher compared his vision of peace to getting a hug.

First-grader Ethan Rush said he’d like people to just be nice to one another.

And second-grader Sydney Moeller said that if you say something nice to someone it eventually comes back to you.

But fifth-grader Taylor Harvey’s vision of peace was more specific.

“My vision for peace is that guns aren’t used to hurt people,” she said. “I wish divorce didn’t happen, ruining little kids lives, and that there was no one hungry or homeless.”

Fifth-grader Gianna Fraley said “peace is everyone having a blast together” and having friends and family share the experience.

“The best thing in life is having family and friends to hold on to,” Gianna said. “Let’s find everyone a friend.”

Ayanna Jorgenson, a third-grader, said her vision of peace wasn’t just about people getting along; but it also included people “noticing that each others’ differences are a good thing.”

But fourth-grader Noah Polzin had a list of things people should and shouldn’t do if they were practicing peace.

“My vision of peace is… love, sharing, joy, kindness, caring, friendship asking and no bullying,” he said. “I hope everyone is nice to each other. The world will be a better place. Please don’t bully others.”

Thorson said they received a grant and plan to have the students' submissions made into a book, which parents can order.