Cowles Montessori Peace Walk
It is a tradition at Cowles Elementary School to celebrate Dr. Maria Montessori’s Birthday, (August 31, 1870), with our annual, school-wide “Peace Walk”. Dr. Montessori lived through two World Wars thus making her a strong advocate for peace. Dr. Montessori believed the education of children was the key to future peace. She also believed: “Avoiding war is the work of politics, establishing peace is the work of education.” Our Peace Education and our Peace Curriculum are based on the teachings of Dr. Montessori and her son, Mario Montessori. Teaching peace is universal in Montessori Schools throughout the world, through our Peace Curriculum we are able to demonstrate and help develop peaceful students. Our classroom discussions might center around conflict resolution, role modeling on how to use the “Peace Rose” to help solve problems between students, how to volunteer for some type of community service, and giving examples on how to do simple acts of kindness for other children and adults. These are just some examples of what is included in our “Peace Curriculum”.
This year as we experience our “Peace Walk” many students will carry flags representing different countries located on different continents. These flags will symbolize the need for “Peace” throughout the world for the sake of our children.
Our goal for this year’s “Peace Walk” is to collect shoes for those in need, instilling in our students the need for compassion and empathy towards other less fortunate children. We will be collecting used and new shoes in support of “Soles 4 Souls, Wearing Out Poverty” we will begin to collect the shoes on Monday, August 31st and we will continue collecting shoes throughout the month of September. If at all possible we are asking if everyone could place the shoes in some type of clear bag so we don’t get the pairs of shoes mixed up. There will be a box outside the office where the shoes may be placed. Hopefully with our donation we will help improve the lives of many hurting people throughout the United States and throughout the world. We are lucky enough to experience our “Peace Walk” wearing shoes, hopefully through our donations other children can experience the gift of shoes.
The Cowles students and staff will gather on the blacktop (north side of the building) at 9:45 A.M. for a short presentation by Mr. Grylls. Mr. Grylls will be acknowledging Dr. Maria Montessori’s Birthday plus explaining the significance of SOLES 4 SOULS and our collection of shoes. After the short presentation we will proceed with our “Peace Walk”. Parents are invited to accompany their child on the “Peace Walk.”
