All The Pieces Are Finally Coming Together!

So we got our first gig lined up today.  That's right folks, our pro-peace workshop is officially heading out on the road!  We are, as you can probably tell, EXTREMELY excited!  It's so great to finally see all of the pieces of the puzzle, which we've been working so long and hard to assemble, start to come together!  We bought all of the materials needed for our physical kits throughout the past week or so, so now we're really ready to roll!  Silver Award, here we come!

~Troop 60435

Activity: Ways to Show Peace (to others)

There are many ways to show peace to others. You can sit next to them at lunch, say hi in the hallways, or just share a smile. These are my top fifteen ways to show peace:
1. Smile :D
2. Introduce yourself if you don't already know them. Be relaxed, and be yourself.
3. Say "Hi." It doesn't matter where - just say hi!
4. Don't cross your arms or shrug, stand tall and you will look more respectful.
5. If somebody looks down, cheer them up!
6. Listen. It is as simple as that. Don't interrupt or argue as much (you can express your opinion, but don't argue).
7. Be optimistic. Who wants an unhappy friend? Every cloud has a silver lining!
8. Manners, manners, manners. Be polite to your friend(s), they with or without knowing, admire your manners.
9. Offer to help with something. Are you in art and you're done? Offer to help with another person's project.
10. Compliment. Who doesn't enjoy a compliment? Do you like his/her backpack? Pen? Top? Complimenting shows that you pay attention.
11. Please don't gossip, backstab, or bully. This is the utmost worst thing you can do to others and yourself. Do you want to be known as the gossip hub?
12. Create conversation. Talk about anything. What is the person carrying? Ask about that. The chances are, they probably want to meet you, too.
13. Don't say anything rude or on-edge. You might insult that person. And don't swear, cuss, or use bad words.
14. Patience is the key. Is the person super-kind of annoying? Just grin and bear through the rest of the conversation. Still be polite.
15. Treat others the way you want to be treated. It's as simple as that.

~Alison

Getting Gigs

Wow, it seems like so long since we've met!  We took a week off last week... we all need a fiesta once in a while!  This week's entire meeting was spent trying to line up possible places to present our project.  We called two people within the hour-and-a-half meeting to try to schedule times to meet and discuss our program.  We struck out in both areas, though; we got voicemails both times, and dialed a wrong number once.  No gigs lined up yet, but we'll keep on trying!  We also changed our blog look once again this meeting.  We got a couple of constructive criticism comments, telling us that our new background wasn't as memorable as our last one.  We agreed, so we reverted back to our old style... hope you all approve!

~Troop 60435

Newsflash! Massachusetts' "Black out Bullying" Day!

Today, Governor Deval Patrick, has assigned as "No Name Calling Day". Students are encouraged to wear black to school today to "black out" bullying. "We need to foster safe environments for students, and 'No Name Calling Day' is an initiative to help raise awareness that bullying should not be tolerated," Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray said. "I hope that on this day and throughout the year, students feel protected and safe in their schools and communities." Students will also sign No Name Calling posters. I know that last year my school did this. To read more, visit Governor Deval Patrick's Black out Bullying Day.

~Alison

Activity: Ways to Show Peace (Pictures)

This week I decided to show different mediums to show peace in. "Medium" is an art term meaning  a substance in which you create art with (those are my own words). Enjoy!

A drawing of peace

Crumpled piece of paper to make peace.

An oil painting

An other oil painting

And a loooooonnnng piece of braided yarn. It took me forever to make!

Reminder: All of these images are our original pieces. We do have a copyright on our blog and all of the images with it. So if you do decide to use our photos, please give us credit. Thanks!
~Alison

New Blog Theme

As you probably noticed when you visited our blog, we changed our background!  We felt it was time for a change; we are always mixing things up, trying to keep you on your toes!  We find the blue very fun.  The orange got tiring after a while.  We also changed some of our fonts around, which you wouldn't have noticed unless you looked very closely. So we hope you enjoy our updated blog!  We hope the change of color brightens your day, and makes you feel peaceful.



Our new look!

~Troop 60435

Activity: Peace (Symbols)

Like languages, there are many ways to say "peace." These are all universal ways to say peace, or anyone, whether if they are Asian or Brazillian, they understand these symbols.

Last week I posted this at the end of the Language activity post. It is the most common way to sign "peace."

And this is the most common peace sign

A paper crane is the Japanese symbol of peace.

A dove carrying an olive branch is another sign of peace. . .

. . . and so is just a plain olive branch.

And finally, an Italian peace flag (remember pace from last week?)

Always Busy!

Wow, are we busy-bodies!  We are always working on new and different things.  Today alone our troop tried to nail down two different presenting opportunities.  That means two emails, lots of planning, and lots of writing scripts.  But that's just us... always running around, working on something!

~ Troop 60435

Activity: Peace (Languages)

There are many ways to say peace. You can do the two-finger method, or say it in foreign languages.
I have compiled a list of the word "peace" in many different ways. Enjoy!

German - Freiden (FRI- den)
French - la paix (la pay)
Spanish - paz
Afrikaans - vrede
Arabic - salun (SAL-un)
Czech - mir
Dutch - vrede (FRE-duh)
Greek - erini (YA- rini)
Korean - peonghwa
Hungarian - beka (BE-ka)
Icelandic - friour (FRE-hooh)
Italian - pace (PA-cha)
Japanese - Heiwa (HEY-wa)
Latin - pacem (PA-chem)
Polish - pokoj (PA-kwi)
Romanian - pace (like Italian)
Russian - mir
Swahili - amani
Swedish - fred (e souds like ay)
Turkish - baris (BA-rish)

Please, if you have any other language suggestions, please comment them and I will add! Also, if you say the words in a cool accent, it sounds really cool!

~Alison

Presentation Update

We finished a plan of our pro-peace workshop; it's pretty cool.  We've set it up like it's in steps, and they're pretty vague.  As of right now, this script is just a skeleton, which we're going to build off of.  We estimate that this workshop would take between 45 minutes to an hour to present.  So, here's our draft...
1.) Introduce ourselves and our mission.
2.) Split the kids into groups, and have each group decide what they think peace is.
3.) Read The Peace Book by Todd Parr.  If everyone thought that peace was this simple, wouldn't life be easier?
4.) Split into same groups, and rework their thoughts of peace, after reading The Peace Book.
5.) Move onto team-building activities.  Part of peace is getting along with everyone.  Team-building activites expand your horizons, and help you come together as a group.
6.) Play the human knot.  Relationships can get complicated.  Peace, kindness, and understanding can help straighten them out.  This is what you learned by playing this game today.
7.) Play Stand-Up.  You guys had to rely on each other to help you stand up.  Trust comes from peace and understanding.

So this is the beginning of our presentation.  We think that this script will drive home our message perfectly: teaching peace, kindness, and understanding to all kids, and teaching them how to be peaceful in their everyday lives.

~Margaret