Bridges to Peace

”BUILDING BRIDGES TO PEACE PROGRAM”

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The Shrine of St. Joseph is pleased to announce the introduction of a new program for middle school and high school students focused on their personal and communal responsibility to foster peace. The purpose of this document is to inform administrators and teachers as to what they can expect from the program and so provide a basis for more detailed planning that will govern each offering of the program. Content will be adjusted to the age level of the students.

The objective of the program is to open students to issues of peace in their communities, in the country, and in the world, and to stimulate them (both individually and communally) to respond to the challenges that they experience personally, learn about in school, or through news media. Based on Christian values, the program will foster a non-violent approach to peacemaking.

The principles that guide the design of the program are:

That all have a responsibility to be peacemakers
That students are aware of peace issues but may feel incapable of addressing them
That specific political viewpoints are outside the purview of the program
That while Christian values guide the design, it will be ecumenical in its selection of source materials
That peace builders must be both reactive and proactive
That the program will be outwardly-focused and action oriented

The pedagogical approach will be to allow students to explore their understanding of peace issues and to dialogue about approaches to non-violence response. Through a variety of exercises, discussions, liturgy, reflection, and action planning, the program will hopefully reach students with different learning styles.

The opening of the day will provide opportunities for the students to become acquainted with the Shrine staff and feel comfortable knowing what is planned for the day. This will be followed by the first phase of the program that will help students gain insight into their own awareness of peace issues. This will involve having them define their understanding of peace and how it is breached both within and outside their communities. They will then be challenged to respond to several scenarios that may be dramatically presented. They will work in small teams and will then come together to share feedback. It is expected that the different and creative approaches to the scenarios will stimulate lively class discussion.

The next phase of the program will be the celebration of a peace-focused liturgy. Through Scripture readings and a dialogue homily, the students will see the deep spiritual basis for peacemaking. They will also be encouraged to recognize prayer and reflection as essential tools for peacemaking.

Either before or after lunch, the class will go to the Tower of Remembrance, the memorial to those lost on 9/11. While the Tower represents many things (the loss of life, the heroism of rescuers, the worldwide loss represented by people from many countries, etc.), the focus of this visit to the Tower will be its representing the failure of peacemaking in our world. There will be a service at the Tower involving the students that will allow them to hear the voices of non-violence – voices of such people as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The focus in this phase of the program will be on the broader responsibilities we all have to foster peace and non-violence.

The program will end in the Shrine chapel with a visit to the icon, Turning from Violence. This depicts both places of conflict and the kinds of violence that people impose on each other. The students will describe their reaction to the icon and then will be asked to develop a set of values and related action steps that they will commit to as they return to their school and community. The objective is to help them transition from learning to action. Carrying the values and action steps away with them will hopefully be a stimulus for their continuing to address peacemaking.

Notes for Administrators and Teachers:

Building Bridges to Peace can serve as the introduction to a peace module that will follow a class’s visit to the Shrine, or it may be used to reinforce ideas and experiences that students have already addressed. In advance of the program, the Shrine staff will appreciate any input and suggestions from teachers concerning issues that they might be dealing with in their school environments. Also, teachers are encouraged to stimulate students’ thinking about peace and why they are visiting the Shrine. This can be done through discussion, an art project, or a liturgical service.

Following the program, such activities as the following can be utilized to foster ongoing learning and action:

The staff at the Shrine will be most appreciative of teachers’ providing feedback concerning the program so that it can be modified to improve its impact. In addition, the staff would like to hear of initiatives taken following the program since these can serve as stimuli for other schools.

“Thank you very much for our deep spiritual learning experience. The retreat made us look deeply into our hearts and check to see if we have made peace with God and with one another. The icon in St. Joseph’s was truly beautiful and it made me think about all the evils in today’s society, but it also made me think about all the good that’s in it.” R