Students convey wishes for peace through pinwheels and prayers
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
In today’s world, peace needs to become more than just a word. That’s the message that students in St. Benedict School, Holmdel, tried to convey Sept. 21 when they participated in an International art and literacy project, Pinwheels for Peace. The students “planted” 475 pinwheels with messages of peace around the school grounds.
Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, Fla., as a way for students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives. In the first year, groups in more than 1,325 locations throughout the world were spinning pinwheels on Sept. 21; there were approximately 500,000 pinwheels spinning throughout the world. In 2013, which marked the ninth year, more than 4.5 million pinwheels were spinning in more than 3,500 locations, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Locally, Mary Ellen Lilly, principal of St. Benedict School, and Joann Mertz, art teacher, coordinated the Pinwheels for Peace project this year.
This project is designed to be non-political as peace doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war; peace can be related to violence/intolerance in daily lives of people or related to peace of mind.
St. Benedict School students in grades kindergarten through eight, created pinwheels reflecting different thoughts and expressions. On one side of the pinwheel, the students wrote their thoughts about “war and peace, tolerance, living in harmony with others,” while on the other side they drew and color edvarious designs to express their feelings visually. The students assembled the pinwheels, and in celebration of International Day of Peace they “planted” their pinwheels as a public statement and art exhibit.
The installation occurred Sept. 18, when Mertz and the eighth grade class outlined a huge peace sign on the lawn in front of the school and filled it in with the pinwheels. The following day, the entire school gathered around the peace sign and participated in a short prayer service. They recited the Prayer of St. Francis and sang “I’ve Got Peace Like A River.” Throughout the school week starting Sept. 22, students were also asked to sign the school bulletin board, pledging to “let peace begin with me.”
For more information, go to http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com.
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In today’s world, peace needs to become more than just a word. That’s the message that students in St. Benedict School, Holmdel, tried to convey Sept. 21 when they participated in an International art and literacy project, Pinwheels for Peace. The students “planted” 475 pinwheels with messages of peace around the school grounds.
Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, Fla., as a way for students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives. In the first year, groups in more than 1,325 locations throughout the world were spinning pinwheels on Sept. 21; there were approximately 500,000 pinwheels spinning throughout the world. In 2013, which marked the ninth year, more than 4.5 million pinwheels were spinning in more than 3,500 locations, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Locally, Mary Ellen Lilly, principal of St. Benedict School, and Joann Mertz, art teacher, coordinated the Pinwheels for Peace project this year.
This project is designed to be non-political as peace doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war; peace can be related to violence/intolerance in daily lives of people or related to peace of mind.
St. Benedict School students in grades kindergarten through eight, created pinwheels reflecting different thoughts and expressions. On one side of the pinwheel, the students wrote their thoughts about “war and peace, tolerance, living in harmony with others,” while on the other side they drew and color edvarious designs to express their feelings visually. The students assembled the pinwheels, and in celebration of International Day of Peace they “planted” their pinwheels as a public statement and art exhibit.
The installation occurred Sept. 18, when Mertz and the eighth grade class outlined a huge peace sign on the lawn in front of the school and filled it in with the pinwheels. The following day, the entire school gathered around the peace sign and participated in a short prayer service. They recited the Prayer of St. Francis and sang “I’ve Got Peace Like A River.” Throughout the school week starting Sept. 22, students were also asked to sign the school bulletin board, pledging to “let peace begin with me.”
For more information, go to http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com.
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