Skip to main content

Tag: peace day

AME celebrates Peace Day

AME celebrates Peace Day

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Community News, Schools.

HOLMES BEACH – Each year, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on Sept. 21, and each year, students at Anna Maria Elementary School (AME) hold a celebration of peace at the school known as Peace Day.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly (UN). Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Each year the UN designates a specific theme for the day, and this year’s theme was “End racism, build peace.”

Students spent the day putting on performances, flying international flags and enjoying presentations from guest speakers such as Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island President Jim McDaniel. During his presentation to the students, he used three different kinds of apples to explain how – just like the apples – people may look different on the outside, but are the same on the inside, regardless of race.

The Manatee High School Drum Line was also on hand to perform.

“Every grade level got up and sang a song for Peace Day,” AME principal Mike Masiello said. “Every class also did a different craft project, some did shirts, some did Peace Day plates, and they all did bulletin boards with themes like what does Peace Day mean to you. It’s a lot of fun and the kids learned a lot about diversity while having a great time.”

Masiello also said his staff and students are thrilled to be able to once again have events like Peace Day where students, parents and staff can all get together in person after two years of no activities or restricted activities due to COVID-19. He said as long as there are no drastic changes regarding COVID, all the plays and gatherings this year are back to the way they were pre-COVID.

“Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life in every society. It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality. And it continues to deny people their fundamental human rights,” according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “It destabilizes societies, undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and the linkages between racism and gender inequality are unmistakable.”

Peace Day sign

Students sing praise of peace

Written by Tom Vaught on . Posted in Community News, Schools.

HOLMES BEACH – Anna Maria Elementary (AME) students expressed hopes for peace at the school’s 17th Annual Peace Day last Friday on the front lawn of the campus.

The annual celebration began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon when thousands of Americans lost their lives. The Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island helped the school’s effort by purchasing a Peace Pole, a monument that displays the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”

The theme of this year’s celebration was “The Right to Peace” and after speeches by AME Principal Jackie Featherston and Rotary Club Past President Judy Rup, the attendees stood for the Star-Spangled Banner and Pledge of Allegiance.

Peace Day garden
The area around the Peace Pole was decorated with colored eggs and the lawn was decorated with pinwheels made by the students at the school. – Tom Vaught | Sun

The Manatee High School Drumline performed as AME students marched with them with flags of other countries, many of them home nations of Island students.

Students of each grade performed songs or read essays and poetry of peace.

AME Guidance Counselor Susan Tabicman organized this year’s celebration and said it went well, adding that events like these could hopefully plant the seeds for a better world in the future.

Flag parade

Peace prevails at Island school

Written by Tom Vaught on . Posted in Community News, Schools.

HOLMES BEACH – As conflicts continue in the Middle East and North Korea tries to incite the United States, peace was the subject on the minds of parents, teachers, staff and students at Anna Maria Elementary School Friday morning.

Peace day band
Members of the Manatee High School Drumline lead the march of students carrying flags of other nations. – Tom Vaught | Sun

AME Guidance Counselor Susan Tabicman put together a diverse program under the theme “Together for peace: respect, safety and dignity for all.”

The program began with an introduction from AME Principal Jackie Featherston and Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island’s Judy Rup.

Then came the Manatee High School Drumline marching around the parking lot followed by fourth- and fifth-graders holding large flags from nations around the world. The flags were planted around the school’s Peace Pole, donated years ago by the Rotary Club.

Peace group
Wearing peace symbol hats, kindergartners flash the peace symbol, like some of their grandparents did a half-century ago. – Tom Vaught | Sun

There were speeches and poetry by students and each grade sang a song. At the conclusion of the ceremony, students exited toward the school, walking beneath a huge International Olympics flag held up by other students.

The students might be surprised to learn that the peace symbols of the kindergartners were the same ones used by some of their grandparents to protest the war in Vietnam more than 50 years ago.