When you walk through the grounds of Lucy School you often hear children and adults saying, “Lucy School is a peaceful school.”  Daily our teachers model and teach respect for nature, ourselves, each other, and the greater community.  Calming, quiet times are built into our day.  Singing Bowls, breathing, yoga, Brain Gym, music, stories, and visualization are some activities that invoke a sense of peace into our active school day.   On September 21 each year, we take time to celebrate peace in a special way by recognizing The International Day of Peace.

This year, we started our day by a school-wide Singing Meeting; singing and moving to “Teaching Peace” by Red Grammer. We created a peace spiral dance as we moved and sang in community. 

Throughout the week, teachers lead class discussions, read books, played games, and led activities that recognized the importance of peace in our daily lives. Preschool teachers created a forest of “Peace Trees” in our block area.  Each class wrote and drew about what peace means to them.  Our kindergarten classes created peace flags that are hanging in our Primary School hallway windows.  First and Second Grades created books about peace to be shared with each other and our younger students.

Lucy School students talk about peace:

Peace is having time alone - Simon

Peace is being nice to people - Lilli

Peace sounds like tiptoe music (overheard)

When I feel peaceful, I like to draw and think of dogs - Gavin

Peace sounds like laughter - Sadira

Peace sounds like wind blowing - Lucas

Books about peace recommended by Lucy School teachers

A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood
Only One You by Linda Krantz
We Are All Alike, We are All Different by Chetenham Elementary School Kindergarten
The Peace Book by Todd Parr
Only One Neighborhood by Marc Harshman
What Does Peace Feel Like? By V Radunsky
Peace Begins With You by Katherine Scholes
Ted Studebaker:  A Man Who Loved Peace by Joy Hofacker Moore