New Garden Friends School Celebrates International Day of Peace
Posted: 09-08-2009 : GREENSBORO, N.C.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Representatives from a grassroots international peace movement and the leader of a nonprofit devoted to conflict resolution will visit New Garden Friends School next week as a prelude to the school’s September 21 celebration of the International Day of Peace.

On September 14, high school students at New Garden’s Upper School will host OneVoice (www.onevoicemovement.org), a global peace movement led by young people. Antwan Saca from Palestine and Ari Eitan from Israel will discuss the Middle East conflict and ongoing efforts to resolve it.

“OneVoice is a great example of how kids can make a real difference in the world,” says David Tomlin, head of New Garden Friends School. “The organization is actively mobilizing hundreds of thousands of moderates on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict to build a coalition for peace. We hope to build that same sense of empowerment among our students.”

In addition to OneVoice, New Garden will host Carl Hobert, president of the Axis of Hope Center for International Conflict Prevention (www.axisofhope.org) at Boston University. Hobert is traveling to Greensboro September 17-19 to train New Garden Friends School teachers in the techniques the foundation uses to help kids understand, manage and prevent conflict. Faculty members will learn to use the organization’s curriculum in their classrooms and will be certified to lead Axis of Hope workshops for other educators.

New Garden Friends School is the first organization to be selected by the nonprofit to support and extend its work.

“The Axis of Hope is grounded on the premise that it is easier for kids to learn to manage conflict during their formative years, before they become hardened by life experiences,” Tomlin says. “That makes the organization’s curriculum a great fit for us – reinforcing our efforts to teach students to respect each other, search for the truth, resolve conflict peacefully and understand the importance of community, stewardship and the environment.”

About New Garden Friends School
Founded in 1971, New Garden Friends School is part of a centuries-old tradition of Quaker education and is committed to the Quaker testimonies of peace, equality, truth, integrity, simplicity, community and stewardship. An interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to learning is designed to help students uncover their strengths, express themselves fully and become active community leaders.

New Garden Friends School serves pre-kindergarten through 8th graders from a lower-middle school on the Guilford College campus and 9th-12th graders from an upper school on Pleasant Ridge Road. The organization is a member of the Friends Council on Education, an association of more than 80 Friends schools across the nation committed to excellence in education. For more information on New Garden Friends School, visit www.ngfs.org.