< back

In spirit of faith, hope, students raise peace flag
By Barbara S. Rothschild, Courier-Post Staff

CHERRY HILL -- Students at Horace Mann Elementary School want to give peace a chance – and are proclaiming it high atop their flagpole.

The Peacekeepers of Horace Mann – a group of fourth-grade and fifth-grade peer mediators under the direction of school guidance counselor June Harden – spent several months designing a peace flag. It was professionally manufactured and, on Wednesday, hoisted at the school for the first time.

Created with the help of Haddonfield graphic designer Joan Manos, the 3-by-5-foot flag sports a globe on a blue field, the words “hope,” “love,” “peace,” and “faith,” and the phrase, “together in peace.”

While all Cherry Hill students are taught about conflict resolution through character education, select groups of older elementary school children are chosen to receive special training in peer mediation and to run special school projects. At Mann, peer mediators are called Peacekeepers to reflect the program Harden has developed using a “peace-table” approach. “These students are trained to deal with conflict resolution on the playground and on the bus. They’re my eyes and ears where there are issues,” Harden said.

The idea for the peace flag came when Harden saw Manos giving a talk about her own universal peace flag, “BLU” which stands for Be Love Universally. Inspired by a vision, Manos created her flag with far-reaching results: copies are now flying in seven nations, at the World Peace Council, and it has caught the interest of the Dalai Lama, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Manos started working with the Mann Peacekeepers in January. Volunteering during recess periods, each student submitted ideas or drawings of flags which were combined into one flag, just as every individual plays an important part in the peace process.

The flag was then drawn on a computer, and more changes were made there until the students were satisfied with a final version. From start to finish, the process took about six months.

“It was very creative making the flag. You could do anything you wanted to do,” said fourth-grader Dylan DeRosa, 11.

Added 10-year-old Michaela Abiaso, “If we didn’t think something was right, we’d start over and change colors and shapes until we had what we thought would really represent our school.”

Fifth-grader Shannon Terry, 11, said the Mann peace flag represents everyone. “If you look at the world, there are different kinds of people. White people are supposed to get along with darker people so no one will feel left out,” Shannon said.

Manos was so inspired by her work with the Mann Peacekeepers that she plans to conduct peace-flag workshops for other South Jersey schools next year.

The Mann peace flag will wave every day beginning with the first day of school next September.

“When people walk by, they’ll know this is a really good school to go to because we all believe in peace,” 10-year-old fourth-grader Emily Kelly said.