Global Service Opportunities - Peace Pals in the classroom.

1. Team B
Elizabeth Ayres
Cassie Johnson
Amanda Moss
Kevin Salazar
Trina Snow
EDL/510 Teacher Leadership in a Global Society
Professor Carmen Tandy
July 15, 2012

2. Projects Considered
• One World Youth Project - “One World Youth Project is a year-long, project-
based global learning experience for middle school youth that actively links
middle school classrooms with classrooms abroad.”
(http://oneworldyouthproject.org)
• Global Nomads Group - “GNG engages and empowers young people
worldwide using media… GNG operates at the intersection of international
and peace education, striving to serve as a vehicle for awareness, bridging the
boundaries of cultural misconceptions …” (www.gng.org)
• PeacePal.org* - “A letter writing program for both teachers and
students… Peace Pal offers a standards-based literacy and peace
skills curriculum that develops students’ abilities to communicate
ideas, resolve conflicts and become leaders for peace. For students,
Peace Pal provides an opportunity to directly connect with a peer in
a country across the globe. Peace Pal letters provide a door through
which students can step into another individual’s world and begin
to learn specifics about their life in a way that they might not
otherwise learn.” (http://peacepal.org/)

3. The Rationale for
Project Peace Pal
Project Peace Pal’s mission is to
connect youth globally through
correspondence and service to
promote a more peaceful world.
With the desire to make our
students more globally aware,
Project Peace Pal is an excellent
choice. Project Peace Pal teaches
our students character through
caring and understanding one
another's culture. To make the
world a more peaceful place, our
students who are the future have
to know about the world which
they live in. Students from the
United States can learn from
students in Kenya and students in
Afghanistan can learn from
students in Ghana. It’s a
cultivating way to bring peace
among ourselves one student at a
time.

4. Key points
PEACE PALS
• Peace is created globally through  Peace Pals is a letter writing program
person to person connections across for both teachers and students
borders and over time.  For teachers, Peace Pal offers a
• Our common humanity can come standards-based literacy and peace
through these connections. skills curriculum that develops
• Creating a kinship through students’ abilities to communicate
similarities, results in a desire to help ideas, resolve conflicts and become
each other. leaders for peace.
• Conflict inevitably arises when people  For students, Peace Pal provides an
are disconnected and see them self as opportunity to directly connect with a
different from one another, Peace Pals peer in a country across the globe.
provides the antidote to this problem.  Peace Pal letters provide a door
• When we experience out kinship as through which students can step into
members of the human race, and find another individual’s world and begin
joy in helping one another, peace is to learn specifics about their life in a
going to be possible in the world. way that they might not otherwise
learn.

5. 5 Ways to Integrate Peace Pal into
Your Classroom Curriculum
1. Identify & Map your PeacePal’s Country
 Objective:
 Locate the continent, country, town, borders, rivers, lakes and mountains.
 Describe the climate
2. Understand your PeacePal’s Culture
 Objective:
 Define their culture
 List elements of their culture
3. Write to your Peace Pal
 Objective:
 Write a letter (rough draft)
 Use appropriate mechanics of writing
 Pair share & compare
 Write Final copy
4. Become a Peace Builder by Identifying the Commonalities & Differences
amongst you and your Peace Pal
 Objective:
 Discover the universalities of human nature and demonstrate an appreciation of it
 Discover the commonalities with you and your pal
 Discover the differences between you and your pal
5. Become a Peaceful Listener & Communicator
 Objective:
 Demonstrate active listening skills
 Demonstrate a feeling statements vs. blame statements

6. Peace Pal & The Effect of
Global Learning
Mission Statement:
“To connect youth globally through correspondence and service,
promoting a more peaceful world.”
 Peace Pal Teaches the Value in:
 Individuals
 Cultures
 Communities
“We believe that sustainable peace flows from personal and meaningful
connections, and that these connections are strengthened when we are of
service to each other.”

7. Possible Effects on the World
As mentioned earlier, the mission of Peace Pal is:
“To connect youth globally through correspondence and service,
promoting a more peaceful world.”
Possible Effects Include:
 Peaceful relationships between future leaders
 Collaboration on future service projects
 Greater understanding and respect for one another
 Improved literacy and communication skills

8. References
 One World Youth Project. (2011). The Challenge.
Retrieved July 10, 2012, from
http://oneworldyouthproject.org/about-the-
organization/vision/
 Global Nomads Group. Overview. In Global Nomads
Group. Retrieved July 13, 2012, from http://gng.org/
 Project Peace Pal. (2011). Program Overview. Retrieved
July 13, 2012 from http://peacepal.org