Seeds of Peace: April brings the beginning of spring, a time to start anew. In honour of Earth Day, held on April 22, we will plant Sunflowers. A flower, like peace, often starts small and grows into something beautiful. To survive, however, it requires care, so as we tend to our flowers, we encourage our students to tend to the culture of peace at our school.
 
In being a part of Peaceful Schools International, St. Michael’s is a school that strives to create and sustain a culture of peace. Students have participated in various activities such as writing their own message on “What is peace” next to the image of a dove, they created posters for ‘no name calling week’ and students continue to celebrate the monthly virtues in a school assembly.
 
In peaceful schools, children are encouraged to be open minded and accepting of others who may look different, have different customs or hold beliefs that do not correspond with their own.
 

The students and parents of St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School came together recently hosting a pancake breakfast for the entire community of Killarney as a fundraiser for Haitian relief. Members of the community came to the school and for those who could not make it, delivery was provided directly to their homes. This fundraiser generated $500 and along with other donations made by a variety of people in the community, a total of $1555.00 was donated to the Mission of Tears, the organization that supports the children of Haiti. Gerry Lougheed visited Killarney as well and accepted the donation on the organization’s behalf. The students, and staff of St. Joseph as well as the community of Killarney showed that no matter how small you are, you can always make a difference!