tary schools the peace curriculum
that has had great success in Kenya,
Mexico and Nepal. CWPO staff
and volunteers have deep experience working with both public and
private schools and have equipped
more than 20,000 children in those
countries with peace skills since
2010. (www.cwpo.org)
The curriculum calls for each
class to engage in a 45-minute to
one-hour peace lesson once a week
for the entire school year. Currently
there is a 40-week curriculum introducing a variety of peace activities/lessons that are grade and age
appropriate. “The core curriculum
covers areas such as: conflict resolution/prevention, critical thinking,
decision-making, creativity, listening skills, imagination, concentration and cooperation (teamwork),”
according to Day. Through dance,
story, song, drawings, and “circles of
self awareness,” young people become fully supported in developing
both inner and outer peace. Artistic
expression on many levels promotes
the recognition of that which unites
us in our common humanity.
With an MBA from Harvard
and an MA in counseling, Day is
passionate about the possibility
26 IMAGINE l Autumn 2015
of having a life-changing peace
curriculum in elementary schools
throughout the world. Building on
the success of the program and its
measurable results, he has recently
turned his attention to the United
States. He chose Sedona, Arizona
as a potential first city to embrace
the peace curriculum in one of its
schools. Happily, the Sedona Charter School, the oldest charter school
in Arizona, has agreed to adopt the
CWPO peace curriculum and will
introduce it in every classroom,
from kindergarten through eighth
grade, starting in the fall of 2015.
With each class in a school participating, new positive conversations and behaviors arise that create
a recognizable culture of peace.
When children naturally begin to
exhibit more compassion, kindness,
and an authentic openness and respect for one another, they discover
what unites and connects them. The
result is contagious, and the ripple
effect creates new positive relationships with their families, their community and beyond.
The stand-alone peace curriculum now provides an effective way
to introduce teachers themselves
to the simple, easy to follow, and
thoughtfully developed lessons.
Previously, CWPO staff and volunteers came into schools to conduct
the lessons once a week.
The Sedona Charter School
(www.sedonacharterschool.com),
established in 1995, as a Montessoribased education environment, will
have the distinction of being the
first school in the United States to
introduce the CWPO curriculum to
children starting in kindergarten
through the eighth grade. It is hoped
this effort to foster cultures of
peace in elementary schools grows
and brings peace leadership and
compassion to the world from the
ground up.
Making our children’s schools more peaceful
The purpose of the Children’s World Peace Organization is to share
the skills that enable children to enjoy a more peaceful environment in
their schools and communities and, by feeling safer and more secure,
empower them to grow up to create a more peaceful world. Their
vision statement states: We believe we can learn the skills necessary
to create a more peaceful world. We hold the vision that someday every
classroom in the world will offer our (or a similar) peace curriculum as a
reflection of the values of the world in which we live.