Each elementary student chose a rock as part of this fall\u2019s annual time of signing the school\u2019s Peace Pledge. This is the 15th year that EMES students have signed the pledge, which highlights seven tenets (full listing below): To respect self and others; to communicate better; to listen; to forgive; to respect nature; to play creatively; and to be courageous.<\/p>\n
This year, students created cairns or rock formations with the individual rocks they chose. They are keeping the cairns in their classrooms to remind them of their pledge and what it means to join individual efforts into a collective.<\/p>\n
\u201cNotice what draws you to the rock you choose,\u201d encouraged Gini Trotter<\/a>, elementary school counselor and peacebuilding teacher. \u201cChoose one that reminds you of ways you might rest and become renewed during busy times this school year. Or pick a rock that will remind you of a peace practice you want to remember this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Students across the K-12 school are exploring practices of rest and renewal, or Sabbath, this year<\/a>. Peace practices are also emphasized throughout the school.<\/p>\n Students shared with their classmates about why those chose their rock and placed it in the center of the circle. \u201cJust as a cairn, made up of many rocks, resembles welcome, balance, direction, and peace prayers, we can help one another as we seek balance and rest in our lives,\u201d Gini Trotter told the students. \u201cIt takes all of us together to work toward peaceful relationships.\u201d <\/p>\n After they created their classroom cairn, students reviewed and signed the pledge of nonviolence. <\/p>\n