-Rigoberta Menchu Tum's visit to Ponderosa High School
-Ponderosa PeaceJam recognized by the Douglas County School Board
-Ponderosa PeaceJam receives the Global Call to Action Award at the Hero Awards Luncheon
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Nobel Peace Laureate Visits Ponderosa
From Douglas County School District News:
On November 17, Ponderosa High School hosted Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum, who was in Denver to honor the Ponderosa PeaceJam Club for winning the first PeaceJam Hero Award.
After meeting with school administrators and PeaceJam Club members, Menchú Tum spoke at an all-school assembly where she congratulated the PeaceJam members on their efforts. “PeaceJam is very inspirational because two things are taught in PeaceJam,” said Menchú Tum through a translator, “PeaceJam helps improve our academics and our grades, but PeaceJam also helps teach us about the school of life. The school of life teaches us what we can do with our hands, with our hearts and with our lives. You all have demostrated a model that is going to serve many other youth groups in the world. I am very proud of all of you. I am proud of the work you’ve done. I am very impressed with what you’ve been able to accomplish here at Ponderosa.”
Rigoberta Menchú Tum grew up in a poor rural area of Guatamala in a family of Quiche Maya. After losing her mother, father and brother during the country’s long-running civil war, Menchú Tum became an activist against human rights violations, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.
“The school of life is a constant challenge. But these challenges we face in our lives are not reason to stay back, but on the contrary, are an opportunity to move forward,” says Menchú Tum. “Wherever you go in life, get your group together and do something. Teach other young people. If we were to gather a million young people that care for mother earth, we’ve done something very successful. Young people need to say: Here we are. We are here to stand for the health of our Mother Earth.”
Menchú Tum was in Denver to speak at the PeaceJam Inaugural Hero Awards Luncheon, which took place on November 18. Ponderosa High School’s PeaceJam Club are the first recipients of the Global Call to Action award, which encourages youth of all ages from across the globe to submit videos or written pieces on their Global Call to Action projects that capture their group’s impact and show the world what they have done to create positive change. The daylong visit from Menchú Tum was the grand prize for Ponderosa PeaceJam. In addition, they will receive expert coaching from award sponsor the Pearson Foundation on how to create a professional-style video of their project and will work with the students to create a film documenting their visit with Menchú Tum and their award reception.
To view Ponderosa PeaceJam's winning video, please see the following post.
Ponderosa PeaceJam Wins National Global Call to Action Contest!
From Douglas County District News:
Ponderosa High School’s PeaceJam club will be the first recipient of the PeaceJam Hero Award and will be receiving a visit from Nobel Peace Laureate and native-rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum on November 17, 2009. The Ponderosa PeaceJam club was chosen for its work in promoting the mission of PeaceJam: to create positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates.
Menchú Tum will be visiting Denver for the first annual PeaceJam Hero Awards Luncheon, to be held on November 18. This event will honor several outstanding PeaceJam supporters, but will also include the award given for the first ever PeaceJam Global Call to Action Challenge.
The annual Global Call to Action award, sponsored by the Pearson Foundation, encourages youth of all ages from across the globe to submit videos or written pieces on their Global Call to Action projects that capture their group’s impact and show the world what they have done to create positive change. The grand prize for this challenge is a daylong visit from Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum and an award presented by this prestigious hero in front of 800 people at PeaceJam’s Hero Award’s luncheon.
“The students at Ponderosa High School show the power that young people have to improve their schools, their communities, and the world,” said Dawn Engle, PeaceJam co-founder, in a press release. “Their efforts demonstrate that the spirit and commitment of the Nobel Peace Prize winners who support PeaceJam’s mission are universal, and that – no matter what the age – each and every one of us can make an important difference.”
Sunday, June 7, 2009
PeaceJammer Wins National Contest
Suzi Warren, a Ponderosa PeaceJammer, recently was selected as the national winner of an environmental leadership contest. The contest, Igniting Creative Energy sponsored by Johnson Controls, selected only one high school winner from the entire nation. Not only did Suzi receive tremendous recognition for this award, but also received a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with other environmental leaders. Suzi will be attending the University of Colorado at Boulder this fall and plans to continue her dedication to the environment and social change.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Energy Management
Kenya
Our PeaceJam club’s environmental efforts have been so successful that in June of 2008, we were invited by Denver Sister Cities International to meet with the Mayor of Denver’s third sister city- Nairobi, Kenya. Major Geoffrey Majiwa was led through Waste Management’s single stream recycling facility with Ponderosa’s PeaceJammers. Coming from a city with no formal structures for waste disposal, let alone recycling, Mayor Majiwa was inspired to hear our ideas and successes on recycling, energy management, and youth and community involvement. The Mayor was so impressed by our PeaceJam club that we have been invited to a private meeting with the Prime Minister of Kenya, the Honorable Raila Odinga, when he visits Colorado later this year.
To keep our current connection with Kenya thriving, PeaceJam is currently working to buy seeds for Kenyan farmers. Many areas of Kenya have been severely affected by climate change and tribal conflicts, leaving many farms unplanted or abandoned. With a projected famin looming in the coming years, we are working to provide seeds to areas in need. Our group recently began selling hand painted canvas sacks, not only supporting the seed project but also encouraging the use of reusable shopping bags. So far, we have provided enough seed to plant over 20 acres of maize in Kenya.
.jpg)
Recycling
Two years ago, our PeaceJam club aspired to begin a recycling program within the school. Home to almost 2,000 students and faculty, Ponderosa filled over 5 trash dumpsters daily, adding greatly to the amount of garbage that is polluting our planet. We began our program by placing recycling bins in every classroom, teaching students and faculty about recycling, and personally carrying out the recycling each week. Today, the program is entirely self-sustaining and has gained the involvement of the entire community. Every week, Ponderosa fills 9 double-sized recycling containers. Overall, we have decreased the amount of trash at Ponderosa by over 70%.
Schools contain a plethora of recyclables that often get tossed in the trash. To prevent this, PeaceJam has worked diligently to educate and encourage students to recycle. Recycling the everyday materials from high school, including spare papers, cans, water bottles, old textbooks, junk mail, pizza boxes, art supplies, and out-of-date teaching materials can rapidly contribute to saving the Earth. At year’s end students clean out their lockers with a recycling bin at hand, instead of dumping it all in the trash. The community at Ponderosa has been so receptive to the efforts of PeaceJam that students go out of their way to recycle bits that others have left behind. In fact, the PeaceJammers are so dedicated to recycling that it’s not uncommon to find us digging through the trash, ensuring that every last bit is recycled.
The Gathering Place
Over the last several years, Ponderosa PeaceJam has established a close relationship with The Gathering Place, Denver’s only daytime center for women and children suffering from poverty or homelessness. PeaceJammers have cooked several meals and facilitated multiple craft projects for women at The Gathering Place, including a project where women were able to decorate and take home canvas shopping bags. Additionally, our PeaceJam group has organized over a dozen community drives for toiletries and nonperishable food items. To do this, we go door to door in neighborhoods, leaving a brown paper bag for donations. Generous community members leave their donations on their porch during a designated pick-up time and we diligently collect every bag. To date, our group has collected over 5,000 pounds of donations for The Gathering Place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
