It was amazing to see how deeply the 3rd grade students at Dunsmore Elementary School are learning about the importance of peace. The Peace Educational Project funded by the Rotary Global Grant is making a difference for the youth. The learning does not end in the classrooms but at the school library and at home with their families.
We recently visited Mr. Theresa Francisco's 3rd grade class to observe how the Rotary Global Grant "Peace Educational Project" is being implemented. To our big surprise and joy, the students are learning wide and deep about peace. The 15 students in the English Japanese Immersion Program at GUSD had read "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes," learned about Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the Japanese American internment, about what happens when a war breaks out. The students had listed words that would associate with peace. They had also researched peace quotes by peace makers such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi. As a weekend homework, the students discussed about the peace quotes with their family members.
When we visited, Mrs. Francisco was asking the students hard questions. "What does the peace quote mean to you?" "What makes you peaceful?" "What happens when we don't have peace?" "Why is peace important?"
For the finale of this year-long Peace Educational Project, the students were starting to write essays what they had learned in the class and at home: what one peace quote that each student picked means, why peace is important, and how they can be peacemakers?
We witnessed something remarkable. What the students are learning surpassed our expectations when we started this project. We felt that the teachers were raising the baby we had delivered to be a very respectable young person. Another Rotary Moment!
The next class visit will be at Wilson Middle School at 10:20 am on Tuesday, March 1st. Don't miss!