WCEC students gathered today at 11:00 am in coordination with approximately 80,000 Montessori students world-wide to celebrate International Day of Peace simultaneously. They sang “Light a Candle for Peace”, written by Shelley Murley, an anthem known and sung by Montessori children across the world. Through 24 hours the song will be sung on every continent this year.
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The students also did activities about peace, drawing pictures, discussing the establishment of Peace Day by the United Nations, and what peace means to them.
The students said:
“Peace means having tolerance and love for each other.”
“Peace means caring for the earth.”
“Peace means respecting one another.”
Recognizing and sharing universal values is integral to peaceful living, and a fundamental element of our Montessori curriculum, peaceful respectful living is taught through specific lessons on how to ask for something, how to listen to one another, and how to take turns speaking, as classroom teachers guide children through practice in peaceful negotiation of life.
Dr. Maria Montessori, whose work in furthering international understanding through education earned her six nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, once wrote that “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982 on the opening day of the General Assembly. In 2002 the UN General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent annual date for the International Day of Peace. During the deliberations, it was suggested that:
“Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace.”
To hear the full song “Light a Candle for Peace”, click on video below, and visit the composer’s blogspot Sing Peace Around the World
LYRICS
Light a candle for peace,
Light a candle for love,
Light a candle that shines,
All the way around the world.
Light a candle for me,
Light a candle for you,
That our wish for world peace,
Will one day come true
Sing Peace Around the World
Sing Peace Around the World
Sing Peace Around the World
Sing Peace Around the World