“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek
but a means by which we arrive at that goal.“
– Martin Luther King, Jr
Peace Practices
Costa Rica is a country with deep roots in pacifism. Without an army since December 1, 1948, the country is a model of peaceful democracy throughout the world. At Futuro Verde we capitalize on these peaceful roots to carve out time in the schedule for all preschool, primary and secondary students to participate in our weekly Peace Practices.
With regular school-wide community meetings with students we share time together, update each other on new learning and life novelties and celebrate successes. We also work to begin internalizing the Futuro Verde community profile descriptors. These descriptors speak to a learner who strives to be: an inquirer, knowledgeable, a thinker, a communicator, principled, open-minded, caring, a risk-taker, balanced and reflective.
The logistics of the Peace Practices include a weekly meeting with all pre-k through 2nd grade students, another weekly meeting time for 3rd through 6th grade students together, and yet another weekly meeting with all 7th-12th grade students together.
General routine for peace practice meetings:
- Welcome
- Core practice/mindfulness
- Songs
- Stretching,
- Discussion/activity connected to monthly descriptors
of an international community member - “Quote of the day”
- “Joke of the day”
- Announcements
- “News of the day” local/national/international
- Sharing of learning
- “Shout Out”
- FV Valores weekly winners announced
- Other activities
