Committed to Radiant Peace

Fifth Annual Peace Essay Awards
(1995-96 School Year)

Table of Contents

First Place National Winning Essay

First and Second Grades

Theme: I Make Peace in My Life By . . .

Peace is feeling nice and feeling like I'm not alone, God is always with me. Peace is caring about others. I like it. I carry peace around inside of me but sometimes I have to reach down and take it out. Then I can go somewhere and share it.

Claire Kovarik, Grade K-1, age 6
Roosevelt School, Cocoa Beach, FL
Teacher: Ruth Bowers
Region: Florida

Second Place National Winning Essay

First and Second Grades

Since I am only seven years old, can I go stop a war? Yes, I can help by making peace where I live. By stopping my friends from fighting and by being friendly even when others are mad. I help world peace when I make peace in my world.

Pamela Zepeta, Second Grade, age 7
Freddy Gonzalez School, Edinburg, TX
Teacher: Rosita Garcia
Region: 4

Third Place National Winning Essay

First and Second Grades (Tie)

I make peace in my life by going out to ride my bike. When I am mad at my brother, I go outside. There is no one out there and I ride my bike fast. I ride until I am not mad anymore. Then I go and play with him.

Alex Macon, Second grade, age 7
Broadview School, Winchester, TN
Teacher: Ann Tapp
Region: 3

Third Place National Winning Essay

First and Second Grades (Tie)

I make peace in my life by sharing my crayons with my classmates. When I share with them, that makes me happy. When we go out to play tag, everyone gets a chance to play. Sometimes, I visit my great grandad and make him smile. This makes us both happy.

Katelyn Conway, First Grade, age 6
Our Lady of Hope, St. Luke School, Baltimore, MD
Teacher: Mrs. Mary
Region: 1

First Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

Theme: Making a Difference for Peace in My World

Peace is a good feeling. Peace is when everything is all right. We can work and pray for peace. How can I work for peace? I can be a good friend. I can say, "Forgive me" when I am wrong. I can listen to others. I can take turns. I can say, "I forgive you" when someone hurts me.

Peace is like a circle. Each person is part of the circle. We have our whole lives to make the circle bigger. Each of us has work to do. Each of us has special gifts like being understanding, being helpful, fixing things, being calm, cheerful, happy, and thankful. Each person is needed. If one is missing, the circle is broken.

Together we work for peace.

Jennifer Reynolds, Third grade, age 8
Benjamin School, North Palm Beach, FL
Teacher: Caruso/Baumgartner
Region: Florida

First Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

I first learned about the feeling of peace talking with my great grandmother. Whenever she was around I always felt peaceful. The peace I felt with my grandmother was like a warm feeling you get from a hug from your dad at the end of a long day.

As a young person, I am encouraged to make a difference in my world for myself, my friends and family, and the people I meet every day. I hope the ways my grandmother taught me will help me to teach others. Listening to other people's ideas, treating people with care, learning from others, and following your heart are all special ways my grandmother taught me to be. If people will follow their heart, the world will be a little closer to true peace.

Summer Stone, Fourth Grade, age 9
Walker Elementary School, Northport, AL
Teacher: Lana Talley
Region: 3

Second Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

There is a way to make a difference. A ripple is a small wave that goes a long way. At a football stadium you see when one person stands and begins a wave, the crowd stands and joins. The one person who started made a ripple. How do you make a ripple? If you're walking down the street and see a somewhat depressed person, smile! The very same person reaches his work; he is no longer depressed, his associates notice. They then show family members or simply another person on the street. You have just created a ripple. It then turned into a wave.

To make a difference for peace in my world I will make a ripple. You may think "It won't go far," but I can hope that by next week my ripple has turned into a wave of peace throughout my world.

Cassandra Galanter, Sixth grade, age 11
Bay Harbor Elementary School, Bay Harbor Island, FL
Teacher: Mr. Grimm
Region: Florida

Second Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

Making peace in my world is hard. Most of the time people don't listen to you just because you are a kid. But sometimes, kids have more sense and can do more for peace than adults. Being the kid that I am, here's what I do for peace. I make friends and not enemies. I also try not to let people get made at me. If they do, I make up with them and ask them to be my friend. To have peace enough to do this, it has to come from your heart. What I mean by that is, you just can't fake peace, it has to be a true feeling. Try it. Maybe you have true peace in your heart as well.

Courtney Brown, Fifth Grade, age 10
Highland Ranch Elementary School, San Diego, CA
Teacher: Kathy Brown
Region: 5

Third Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

Making a difference for peace in my world means I treat people the way I would like to be treated. This means not only the people at school or on my swim team but also my brother and my sister. It means doing what my parents ask me the first time they ask me. It means giving when I really want to be taking. It means asking instead of telling. It means smiling instead of crying. It means being happy with all the great things I have instead of wanting things I do not have. It means taking time to smell the pretty flowers, to enjoy the breeze across my face, and to listen to the song of the birds.

Ashley Winn, Third Grade, age 8
Friendship School, Coatesville, PA
Teacher: Mrs. Aldworth
Region: 1

Third Place National Winning Essay

Third through Sixth Grades (Tie)

When people hear the word, "peace," they most likely think about countries, treaties, or just people getting along. However, I want to talk about a different kind of peace, self peace.

Self peace is accepting yourself for who you are. For example, if a girl thinks she's ugly, she will probably find someone uglier than herself to put down, in order to make herself feel better. If she could accept that she isn't perfect, then she is less likely to start fights. That is what I mean by self peace.

In conclusion, what I would do to make a difference for peace is educate people about self peace. We are only human, and there is nothing we can do to make every country, leader, or religion have the same opinion. I think if we can make peace with ourselves, there is a good chance we can with each other too.

Ellen Lichtenstein, Sixth Grade, age11
N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, Birmingham, AL
Teacher: Debra Gordon-Helman
Region: 3