February 2002

The greatest thing about schools is that they are full of kids! I find that when things get difficult for me, the best way to put them into perspective is to go back to the kids. I like to talk with them, listen to them and watch them as they confront the challenges in their own lives. They have a way of getting right to the point, of cutting through the layers of pretense and make-believe that sometimes obscure our thinking as we try accommodate our more complicated agendas.

I have spent a fair amount of time with the kids this month. Much of it has been spent talking about values. What are the values that shape our lives? Our school? Our future? A word that has come up over and over again is respect. Sometimes it comes up positively, as we assert our respect for one another, for the skill of a teacher, for the talent, creativity or warmth of a friend. Other times, it is mourned for its absence. What does the mess in the corridors say about our respect for our school and for one another? How about coming late to meetings and to class? Is the disrespectful quality of quips and comments really funny, or an indicator that a precious value may be at risk?

Moving back from the world of children, I find myself worrying about what it means in our own lives. What does it mean when we, the adults in our community, resort to words and actions that speak more of personal agendas than of respectful attention to the views of others and the needs of our school? What happens when we allow ourselves to turn away from the standards of civil discourse and sink to gossip, innuendo and aggressive pursuit of personal goals? What does it do to us as members of a community? And more importantly, what does it teach our children?

This month at PDS we have studied peacemakers – those special people who spent their lives pursuing the goals of peace, human dignity and mutual respect. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Theresa: these are only a few of the famous peacemakers we discussed. What was it that made their lives special? What made them push so tenaciously for peace and for the dignity of all people everywhere? In spite of differences in time, location and circumstances, we discovered common dedication to justice, respect for all people and determination to live by principles of peace. It was critical to them to do what was right.

At the same time, we thought about the smaller, more intimate peacemaking moments in our own lives. We talked about times when friend helped friend, when teacher supported student and when families provided peace and safety to one another. The kids know what it is to be a peacemaker. They are learning to see themselves that way. To my way of thinking, helping them do so, and striving to be peacemakers ourselves, are among the most precious gifts we can give. My wish for PDS this year is that we may all work together with genuine respect and peace. Let us strive to recognize one another’s strengths, appreciate our differences and exalt in the things that bind us together as a caring, respectful community.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The ideals of justice, kindness, brotherhood and faith cannot die. These are the highest of human ideals. They will be defended and maintained. In their victory the whole world stands to gain; and the fruit of it is peace.” Let us all be peacemakers.

Respectfully,

Mary Jane Yurchak