Peace Pavilion Seeks Peace Educators

The Children's Peace Pavilion, located in Independence, MO, is seeking four Peace Educators to join their team to provide peace activities to schools in the Kansas City metro area. This one-of-a-kind, interactive museum, designed to explore the essential elements of peace is expanding their program. This expansion is a result of being approved as an AmeriCorps VISTA sponsor. AmeriCorps VISTA is a program of Corporation for National Service. VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America and gives people of all ages and backgrounds an opportunity to work in their communities as organizers, builders, and catalysts for change.

In 1999, the Children's Peace Pavilion launched the Pledge School Program in ten elementary schools in the Kansas City metro area. This program was designed to take the four concepts of peace--Peace for Me, Peace for Us, Peace for Everyone, and Peace for the Planet--from the Pavilion into the classroom. Participating schools receive on-going teacher training and curriculum materials as well as peace activities conducted in the classroom by a trained peace educator. This year the program will expand to a district-wide application in the Independence Schools, increasing services from 10 to 40 Pledge Schools. For this reason, the AmeriCorps VISTA program was a perfect match for the Peace Pavilion.

The Children's Peace Pavilion is providing a valuable service to the students of the Independence School District and the City of Independence. The skills students learn through the peace education program will help them become better students and better citizens.

Debbie Marlowe
Assistant Superintendent of Education Support

"Expanding the program to the Independence District requires us to increase our own internal capacity," said Kelly Ellison, Outreach Specialist for the Children's Peace Pavilion. We want to continue to deliver a quality comprehensive peace education program to our Pledge Schools. The objectives of the Children's Peace Pavilion programs are to encourage children of all ages, families and educators to learn about peace and what it means to be a peacemaker, and to integrate that new understanding into their homes, schools and communities.

Each VISTA member will work with the Pledge Schools full-time to ensure that they have the training and materials they need to be successful. VISTA members will provide peace education programs to the Pledge Schools by training teachers and conducting peace activities in the classroom.

We are in the process of recruiting four AmeriCorps Peace Educators with a start of November 8, 2001. The deadline to apply is September 21, 2001. To find out more about the Children's Peace Pavilion Peace Educator position log on to www.Americorps.org or for more information contact Kelly Ellison at (816) 521-3033 or kellyellison@yahoo.com or click here for  application information.  Visit the Pavilion on line at www.kidpeace.org.

The Children’s Peace Pavilion is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian agency whose mission it to enrich the lives of children through the pursuit of peace for all and is sponsored by the Community of Christ. The Pavilion is free and is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 - 4:00.