newsletters
June 2024
Seek peace within yourself and others • Reach out in service • Protect the environment • Respect diversity • Be a responsible citizen of the world
Maria Montessori: “Everyone talks about peace, but no one teaches peace. In this world, you are educated for competition, and competition is the beginning of every war. When he will educate himself for cooperation and to offer each other solidarity, that day he will be educating himself for peace.”
PEACE SITE AND PEACE POLE DEDICATION OF THE NORTH SAINT PAUL-MAPLEWOOD-OAKDALE ROTARY CLUB
reported by Martha Roberts, WCP Board of Directors
On May 18th the NSPMO Rotary Club celebrated the dedication of a new Peace Site with a Peace Pole. It was a beautiful day in North St. Paul, right next to the Gateway Bike Trail that goes from St. Paul to Duluth. Club members and families with young children were in the audience. The local high school choir sang a variety of songs for the occasion and the Rotary group provided coffee and cookies to all attendees.
A good friend, and the heart and soul of World Citizen Peace, elementary Peace Education educator, Lisa Blake, was there. It was terrific to reconnect with her. As the official dedication ceremony began, the President of the NSPMO Rotary Rachelle Peleska and I spoke about the importance of community building, WCP’s Five Peace Actions, the meaning of being a Peace Site, and the public commitment to Peace Education. It was a powerful event for all.
WHY NOT BECOME A PEACE AMBASSADOR OR CREATE YOUR OWN PEACE SITE?
World Citizen Peace always loves to help you with your peace project and celebrate your work in our newsletter and Facebook pages. Send us a brief narrative with a few pictures of your peace actions.
YOU MAKE PEACE POSSIBLE
PEACE AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT
Mary Salavatori Allen’s personal Peace Ambassador goal says it all:
To discuss the importance of conservation vs consumption, as we make daily choices that impact our Earth’s resources, its ecosystems, neighboring countries/cities, and the health of people, as well as provide solutions focused on waste prevention measures, practices that are healthier for people and our planet, and equitable for everyone.
World Citizen Peace recently posted Mary’s educational video on our Facebook page.
My Journey as an Environmental Educator: From Classroom to Community Advocacy
During the early 1990s, I served as an elementary school teacher and found myself faced with the task of creating a curriculum for the Recycling Unit. At that time, curbside pick-up had just begun, and textbooks offered no guidance on the subject. Through a combination of workshops, conferences, extensive reading, and personal exploration, I delved into the world of waste reduction and the best practices for managing materials that couldn’t be reduced, reused, recycled, or composted.
In my classroom, I introduced a vermi-composting bin, which provided an excellent opportunity to teach children about reusing and recycling food scraps. This practice continued until 2010 when legislation finally allowed for the mixing of food scraps with landscape organics in commercial composting. The more I learned, the more I was compelled to share my knowledge.
I often joke that educators have no secrets — we willingly share everything.
In 1995, I embarked on a new chapter in my career when I was hired by the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC). SWANCC is an intergovernmental agency comprised of 23 municipalities in north and northwest Cook County, Illinois. As the Recycling and Education Director for nearly 28 years, I assumed responsibility for developing and overseeing member communities’ special material programs, organizing one-day events, managing permanent collections, implementing school programs, conducting public outreach, creating educational resources, overseeing communications, and managing social media initiatives. I recently retired from this role in June 2023.
When I learned about World Citizen Peace, it was a natural fit to be aligned with their Five Peace Actions.
Visit heartmindplanet.com for more information about an incredible Peace Ambassador and her efforts to make the world a better place.
DID YOU KNOW?
The largest recorded anti-war rally ever took place in Rome in 2003 with around three million people, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Nearly 3,000 buses and thirty trains were specially chartered to bring people to the demonstration, which was organized under the slogan “Stop the war; no ifs or buts.”
Madrid hosted the second largest rally with more than 1.5 million people.
WORLD CITIZEN PEACE THROUGH TIME
Before we were World Citizen Peace we were known as World Citizen Inc. It all began in 1972 in the heart of North Minneapolis, at the Phyllis Wheatley House. Our visionary founder, Fred Williams, then the Acting Executive Director of Northside Settlement Services, set the stage for a transformative journey.
Fred’s mission was clear and compelling: to stem violence and foster peace by offering essential social services to the youth of the community. His inspiring vision was to “provide jobs, hope, and training to young people,” empowering them to build better futures.
Today, World Citizen Peace honors Fred Williams’ legacy with deep gratitude. His unwavering commitment to justice and peace continues to inspire our work.