Peace Day 2007

I think it must have been when five of my students came up to me before class started this morning to give me hugs. Or when I looked out and noticed that two of my students were wearing homemade Peace Day shirts. But at some point this morning, I realized that this was going to be an amazing day. I must have declared, "I wish every day was Peace Day!" at least 6 different times today. The fact that it was sunny outside the ENTIRE day capped off what was, quite certainly, the perfect day. The kids were incredibly well behaved. All of the teachers were in superb moods (perhaps it was because we were fed breakfast in the faculty lounge this morning...my first Belgian bacon since I've arrived!) And the entire spirit of the school was at the highest I've seen since the first day of the school.

To those of you who may not have known, Peace Day was first established by a man named Jeremy Gilleve in 2001 and passed unanimously by the UN as a day of global ceasefire and nonviolence. (To learn more about the day check out its link http://www.peaceoneday.org/)

So with sun, Peace Day Commitments, Peace Day pledges, hugs, hearing the word "peace" said in multiple languages, Cat Stevens (Peace Train) and peace pinwheels, I thought for sure the day could not possibly get any better. That is, until, we had a Peace Day send off with John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance. The kids, singing along with their hands waving in the air and clapping, will forever be imprinted in my mind as the image that will always represent this day for me as a teacher.

Peace out, ya'll.