2008 Mikva Peace Project Winners Announced

Project winners began action planning at the Mikva Peace Campaign Kick-Off event at Walter Payton College Prep on April 11.  The following projects were awarded mini-grants, generously funded by the Joyce Foundation and the Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, to support their efforts to reduce violence in Chicago schools and neighborhoods:

Kenwood Academy, Sister to Sister and the Brotherhood
In May, the Brotherhood and Sister to Sister will host a peace rally at Kenwood that will include workshops to educate their peers about the current state of violence in Chicago as well as what other youth are doing to reduce violence in their communities.

Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Proyecto Juventud/Project Youth
The members of Project Youth aim to create awareness around teen dating violence through the creation of a "traveling mural."  Project Youth plans on using the mural to educate their community about violence against women, how it affects young women and how it can be ended.

Earth Angels Ministry of Help and Universal Church
The Commissioners of Peace will bring youth, parents, community leaders and decision-makers together at a youth symposium to discuss solutions to safety issues in an effort to make this summer safer in Chicago.  The youth would also like to counteract the actions their peers take to get attention by providing alternatives such as getting involved in positive activities in their schools and/or communities. 

Wendell Phillips Academy, Peace Campaign
The Peace Committee of Phillips Academy wants to create a Peace Campaign that aims to increase awareness of alternative methods that their peers can use to solve conflicts and create a positive, unified schools culture.  A mural competition for best peace mural will take place among division homerooms.  As part of this competition, students will explore the concept of non-violence and conflict resolution.  Peace ribbons will be worn throughout the competition to remind students of non-violence.  A pizza party will be awarded to those division homerooms with the least number of disciplinary infractions.  A Peace Day consisting of workshops will take place and the winning mural will selected.

Kelvyn Park High School and Logan Square Neighborhood Association
The youth of Kelvyn Park High School and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association feel that gangs have influenced their schools, community, families and city.  As a result, they would like to start Peace Circles at Ames Middle School for students who have constant disciplinary problems to talk about their lives and experiences.  The ultimate goal is to influence them towards a positive direction before they enter high school.  The Peace Circles will serve as a space for both groups (Ames Middle School and Kelvyn Park High School) to discuss what high school is like and why taking gang problems to their high school is not a good idea.

Youth Voter Collective
The Youth Voter Collective will host a youth summit in North Lawndale to discuss specific violence and crime policy decisions that affect youth.  They would like this to be a space where youth can learn about policies, but also have a voice in explaining how they feel about how these policies affect them and their peers.  The youth will research local and national policy in response to youth violence and collect opinions of other youth in order to come up with real solutions.  Such solutions will become part of the Youth Voter Collective's Youth Agenda.

Manley High School and UMOJA
Students at Manley want to obtain perspectives on how youth are affected by violence as well as get youth to think about the effects of violence.  They will host a youth gathering centered on violence.  At this gathering, students will be provided with a white t-shirt on which they will design anti-violence symbols or anti-violence phrases.  A speaker will be invited to discuss how their life has been changed as a result of violence.  Students will then be given the opportunity to share their thoughts about violence through an open mic session.  To celebrate, a barbeque will take place.

Gage Park, Peace Café
The Gage Park Against Violence Coalition would like to establish a Peace Café within Gage Park High School that students can visit after school to discuss issues of violence in their lives, school and community, have a positive and safe place to hang out (both physically and emotionally), and build a community network of peace-related resources.  Currently, they have obtained the space but will be "fixing it up" to fit their needs.

Clemente High School, Peace Clocks
Students from Clemente's Peace and Leadership Council want their peers to establish a culture of peace that can have a positive impact on their lives and school through the creation of 15-day Peace Clocks.  For every day of peace, the clock moves forward.  All of the students who participate will receive a "Crank dat Peace" shirt to motivate them.  The divisions that successfully carry out 15 days of peace will be awarded a pizza party.  In the long-run, the students would like to see Peace Clocks in every division.

Crane High School
The Crane Tech Peace Ambassadors are targeting three areas: violence, anger management and commitment.  Through communication summits that consist of educating their peers about conflict resolution, the Crane Tech Peace Ambassadors would like to eliminate violence.  Via youth-adult partnerships, anger management trainings will be conducted among the student body.  A day of "letting go of conflicts" will take place where students will be given balloons and will write their affirmation to let go of all conflicts and will release them into the air.  A Peace Mural depicting the elements of peace will be created in division homerooms.