News
Sts. Joseph and John School Peacebuilders program unites community
Matthew Orgovan
Strongsville
A rash of high profile bullying and cyberbullying incidents in recent years has
vaulted those subjects to the forefront of America's collective consciousness.
As a result, many educational and nonprofit institutions have created programs
to help curb the proliferation of these acts. One of these programs is PeaceBuilders,
a national violence prevention and development program that Sts. Joseph and John
School (SJJ), Strongsville, began piloting this 2011B12 school year.
According to the school's administration, the decision to adopt PeaceBuilders
into the school culture was so that a pilot curriculum could be implemented to
foster the enhancement of the anti-bullying program that was already in place.
The program was initially conceptualized by the administration via a research
endeavor of "Best Practices" for educationYor "what works" best in a particular
situation or environment.
What exactly is PeaceBuilders? It is a science-based and research-validated
youth violence prevention program approved by the U.S. Department of Education's
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. It is a curriculum designed through a
company in California to create safe, positive learning environments. The Sts.
Joseph and John administration believes, "PeaceBuilders enables teachers to
do what they loveYTEACHYand enables students to think twice about bullying."
As a curriculum that, through time, helps schools change the culture of their
buildings, PeaceBuilders was introduced to the SJJ faculty and staff through
an in-service before school began this year. In addition, the school's administration
sought the support and input of area principals and members of the Diocese
of Cleveland. What evolved was a school-wide effort (students, faculty, staff,
parents, administration) that aims to change the culture of the building from
Abullies" to "peace builders."
Assistant Principal Kathleen Wolf lauds the program and its ability to support
teachable moments. "It is so refreshing as the assistant principal to walk
into classrooms and hear the PeaceBuilders Pledge being recited. The pledge
is also a helpful tool to use when teachers or the administration need to discipline
a student, because the students know the words and we can help teach or remind
them what it means," she said.
COURTESY STS. JOSEPH AND JOHN SCHOOL
Children at Sts. Joseph and John School are eager to participate in anti-bullying programs.
Now more than halfway through its pilot year, PeaceBuilders has already enjoyed
much success at SJJ, including: the implementation of positive monthly classroom
meetings, the students reciting the PeaceBuilders pledge each day during announcements
and the minimization of discipline issues.
Although the PeaceBuilders Program is new to the SJJ culture, the faculty, staff
and administration feel confident that it will have a positive effect on changing
the anti-bullying culture of the school for the future. In fact, Mrs. Debbi Kazimir,
a second grade teacher at SJJ, stated, "Peace Builders is a wonderful way
to remind all of us, children and adults, how to be more like Jesus and treat
others with respect and kindness."
SJJ seventh graders even "look forward to PeaceBuilders Day when the whole school
works on the same topic, but at the different age levels. It helps bring our
class a little closer together."
Beyond its leadership in implementing an anti-bullying
program such as PeaceBuilders, Sts. Joseph and John School also became a National
Blue Ribbon School this past year. A key factor in achieving this accomplishment
was that SJJ students were deemed academically superior in regards to IOWA Basic
Skills testing, cognitive ability scores and proficiency scores.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, a total of 305 schools, 266
public and 49 private, were honored as 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools based
on their overall academic excellence or their success in closing achievement
gaps. This program sets a standard of excellence for public and private elementary,
middle and high schools whose students either reach very high levels of achievement
or have made significant progress by beating the odds.
Orgovan is a freelance writer.