Aloha begins in elementary school: Peace leaders wanted

Leaning into the chalkboard at the front of the Peace Room at King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School in Hanama‘ulu are pictures of Ghandi and Martin Luther King. This classroom on the second floor of the school is one of three Peace Rooms on Kaua‘i, but that number is growing.

When 20 fourth graders flow through the door they greet Auntie Teri with warmth and enthusiasm.

“Remember last week we saw a video on being bullied?” She asks them once they are seated. “This week we are gong to talk about what to do if someone bullies you or if it happens to someone else in your class.”

Teri Ceplo is a volunteer peace leader for a program started 10 years ago by Laura Taylor of Princeville. Taylor moved to Kaua‘i 18 years ago to retire.

“When I realized retirement wasn’t for me I opened myself up to the two things I am passionate about, children and peace — then combined them.”

Taylor started the Aloha Peace Project as an outreach program through Kapa‘a United Church of Christ. This is not a religous based program, but one founded on the principles of kindness and inspired by the messages of peace advocates, Ghandi and King.

 “We develop activities around lessons we want to teach,” Taylor said. “We have fun and then we work in the peace lesson. We’re really about changing habits and setting good goals and values.”

For the first eight years Taylor was the only one going into the classroom. Today she has three volunteers and Peace Rooms in three elementary schools — Kapa‘a, ‘Ele‘ele and King Kaumuali‘i. Joining this small fleet of peace keepers in October is Wilcox Elementary in Lihu‘e.

“We are looking for other people to go into the schools,” Taylor said. “In October we start with second and third graders at Wilcox.”

The success of this program is in the details. Taylor provides a script for each activity with parts for both the teacher and the volunteer. The presence of the teacher is critical to the success of the program.

“They know the history of the children, so if we show a video with an issue a student might be sensitive about, the teacher is there as support,” Ceplo said. “Teachers are so busy. We make it easy for them by doing all the prep. They can do this with just the script.”

Taylor developed the programs to support Hawai‘i standard content and the volunteers receive training, materials and the script to carry into the classroom. While teachers are not actively involved in program development, they are present for orchestration.

But it takes more than a few volunteers in the classroom to move this mountain. The Aloha Peace Project receives active support from a generous congregation. Every Wednesday at the Kapa‘a United Church of Christ 20 to 30 volunteers work on supplies needed for the next week of programs — from dove shaped cut-outs for name tags to puppets, book marks and the list goes on.

A typical program is 45-minutes a week for five consecutive weeks. That amounts to upward of 200 students to provide materials for.

A prominanet theme for fouth and fifth graders is how to bully-proof the campus.

“We’ve developed activities supporting the by-standers, the kids who witness the bullying,” Taylor said. “We work on skills on how to take power from the bully and support the victim. You stimulate the masses to make the change. It’s not about changing the bully or the victim. But we do give skills to the victim on how to deal with being bullied.”

Ultimately the activities promote communication and awareness.

“Peace makers look around,” Taylor said. “They don’t just focus on themselves. They see if someone needs a friend, is shy or hurt or angry. Learning to put a word to a feeling, that’s the first step.”

The shared theme of both King and Ghandi is one of unity.

At the end of class Ceplo tells her fourth graders, “Keep practicing your peaceful skills. It’s so important to be a peace leader.”

For more information call Taylor, 639-0422 or 826-6567.