We want to share with you a special experience that happened recently at one of our schools, PS 191. We were lucky enough to have James Hallowell, a representative of the incredible group Peacelinks from Freetown, Sierra Leone, speak with our Create-A-Dream after school class. James told us about his work with local youth in Freetown, especially with former child combatants. Peacelinks was created by a former child soldier after the civil war in Sierra Leone as a way to give youth an alternative to returning to a life of violence. James was brought to New York City as a visiting scholar at the International Center for Tolerance Education (which is also where our office is located) to share his experiences and further the work of Peacelinks.
James spoke with 3rd and 4th Grade students at PS 191 who are creating a play about the causes and ills of war. They had the opportunity to ask James questions about Sierra Leone, the civil war there and the work that he and others are doing to prevent any further violence. In Create-A-Dream, the students are challenged to explore their current world--the things they like and the things they don't--and then to create a musical based on the issues they've identified to show how they can make change. The students began by exploring a wide variety of issues that they feel need to change in this world. After a lot of different music and theater games, they narrowed their focus to the issues of lacking water and the issue of guns in relation to war. They're in the process of creating two plays right now to express their views on these issues.
You can see the preview of these plays on Wednesday, March 12 at 5 PM at PS 191, 61st Street and Amsterdam.
Thank you very much to James and also to Veronique from ICTE for helping arrange the visit.
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