The gift of Shalom: Creating a caring community of peacemakers

Kathy Gordon“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18Each year Penn View Christian School adopts a school theme for the year. This year’s theme stems from Roman 12:18 and asks each student, “Are you acting in peace?” This theme of peace, or shalom, has been adopted throughout the Penn View School community in many ways this year. In the elementary school, many teachers have received training and are making use of “Responsive Classroom” practices. According to Dr. Penny Naugle, elementary school principal, responsive classrooms teach children to “care” and provide for a much more constructive community.Fifth grade teacher Sharon Reynolds sees the impact of this method in her classroom, “Each day, we greet one another, share something, do a quick game and read a message from the teacher. The children look forward to this time. These activities create an opportunity to voice concerns and topics of interest, laugh together, discuss an important point and look one another in the eye. Through these activities we have learned to appreciate one another as fellow human beings who like to be together. Furthermore, ‘the playing field is leveled’ for those who do not ordinarily experience much success in school. Such experiences lead to a sense of comfort or ‘peace’ within our learning community that allows children to take risks, to read a poem, raise their hand or help a classmate.”In second grade, Myrna Moyer also enjoys this model in her classroom’s “morning meetings” because it gives her students a sense of community and belonging. Each student gets a chance to participate and everyone takes a turn and feels equal in the group. “The methods I use for my class to greet each other and participate in an activity involve everyone regardless of academic abilities. We sit in a circle every morning and after giving them a written message, we greet the person sitting to our left using different methods every week. Then we do a fun activity where everyone is involved and participates.”One may ask, how do teachers deal with the issue of discipline in this environment? Third grade teacher Kipp Moyer knows that discipline problems still will arise because we are all human. However, handling these issues and restoring relationships are smoother and faster because the children are more vested in their relationships with one another due to the different aspects of responsive classrooms. “This resonated with me because listening, responding, supporting and caring for one another are the building blocks of Christian community. We have our bumps along the way because we are humans, but restoration occurs so much easier because of the value we have for each member of our community.”Fifth and sixth graders also have had the opportunity to take part in the “Young Peacemaker” curriculum during homeroom and devotions as a supplement to their “Journeys with God” Bible curriculum. Fifth grade teacher Kim Bergey says kids really like it because it’s in comic book form and because they get to act out some of the scenarios and role play common conflicts that occur in fifth grade. “It’s great because it links scripture to all stories. It helps students understand the root of conflict, steps to avoid it and how to deal with conflict in a way that would please God. All of the lessons integrate Biblical stories and verses to help them understand the concepts better.” The materials also stress the importance of prayer in any conflict situation. In addition, Kim mentioned that self-contained classrooms in elementary grades are an added benefit since they provide for a tight-knit community that give both teacher and students a wonderful opportunity to be peacemakers together by either preventing or working though conflict together.In middle school, conflict issues are resolved through a process call “Peer Mediation.” Middle school counselor Ashley Miller described peer mediators as “specifically trained students who help others resolve conflicts by talking it out together”. Members of student council in grades six though eight are just completing an intensive training program that will ultimately help them “work out” conflicts with students in both elementary and middle school. These students now have attained a life skill that will not only help provide continuity between grades, but also help teachers and counselors in finding solutions.The culmination of all these peace themes was apparent this year during the middle school Spiritual Life Week. During the week, Pastor Jim Ostlund from Blooming Glen Mennonite Church introduced the topic of Shalom to middle school students. Each day during chapel, he presented the four components of Shalom – peace with nature, peace with others, peace with self and peace with God. He challenged students to think about how they can apply the gift of Shalom in their daily lives. Seventh grader Clara Bush really liked the fact that peace was the focus of Spiritual Life Week and sees its importance because “our communities need to work at it.” Middle school teacher Heidi Painter liked how the week was used to talk about forgiveness in homeroom. “We’ve looked at ‘peace with self’ and understand that we need to be able to forgive ourselves before we can forgive others.”Middle school teacher Matt Wenzel likes how the school is trying to continue with the theme of Shalom throughout the school year. “Furthermore, I’m hoping that faculty can find ways to integrate the four areas of Shalom into their instructions as well as spontaneously having those types of conversation during the school day.” Perhaps middle school teacher Melanie Baker said it best: “Peace is a timely topic we can all relate to especially during uncertain times.” The Penn View Christian School community is truly providing a way for students to “let peace begin with me.”