The Peace Tree

Today was an interesting morning...
Yesterday Mr.Battaglia announced his 3rd principals enrichment challenge which focused on diversity and multiculturalism.  At the end of the day we had a good discussion rolling about ways that students promote diversity and how we can make people more aware of our diverse celebrations.  Inspired by all our talk, today I decided to show the students a short film titled, "The Peace Tree".  The story is about two little girls, one Muslim and one Christian who dream of celebrating each other’s festivals, Eid and Christmas. But when they share their dreams, they are met with resistance from their parents who express their concerns. Through their struggles, they create a unique symbol-- The Peace Tree, a tree that highlights the symbols from all our cultures to reflect the beauty of "diversity in unity". The Peace Tree shares the voices of the children who try to enlighten their parents to the importance of sharing and celebrating diversity together.

What was great to watch was the way the students appreciated the movie - they were able to make connections to their personal lives which made them thoroughly enjoy it.  Watching a movie which showcases parts of the students' culture such as reciting Namaz (Muslim prayer), eating cultural food, celebrating Eid really made the students feel like they could relate to what they were watching! One student even commented "we're so lucky we get to watch this at school, I've never seen a movie about our culture at school".  =)

Remember, everyone is unique and special regardless of their culture, religion or skin colour.  Lets work hard in making sure we create peace everyday in our lives and someone elses!

See you tomorrow,
Ms.Virji =)