Chancellor Livingston Elementary School students participated with millions of their peers from around the world in Pinwheels for Peace.
“I think it’s a great way to celebrate peace, and it’s a fun way, too,” said fifth grader Oona Moyer. “I like how we can be creative, add whatever we want to the pinwheels and show them to our friends.”
Two art teachers in Florida initiated pinwheels for Peace in 2005 as a way for students to express their feelings about what is happening in the world around them.
“It’s very exciting. It’s one of my favorite days of the year,” said Fawn Johnson, art teacher and event organizer for 13 years. “There is a feeling of comradery, belonging to our community here and also belonging to the bigger picture of all the kids worldwide.”
Johnson has her students create their own pinwheels as their first assignment each school year. At the school ceremony, students and staff lined up behind a large pinwheel for their class on the school’s front lawn and placed their smaller pinwheel in the ground. The pinwheels remain displayed for a week before students take them home.
“We really enjoy it because they decorate their pinwheels however they want,” said Johnson. “I tell them if they use markers and it rains, their colors might change and fade a bit. Some of them are OK with that. Other students do not want their designs to change so they’ll use crayons or colored pencils. They get to make that choice as artists.”
Brett King, principal, said the event brings comradery and a community feel to students, staff and families. He added Pinwheels for Peace is a perfect fit for the elementary school where there are conversations regularly about kindness.
“When you talk about peace and kindness, you can’t have one without the other,” he said.
King added, “It’s the first time we get everyone in the building together. I think that is what is special about it. We get everyone together in one space to celebrate peace.”