On the bright, sunny morning recently, students and faculty at Fair Street International Academy participated in their annual International Peace Parade. The parade began at the school and traveled through the Fair Street community to Chattahoochee Bank, where everyone sung a special song.
The parade stemmed from an idea from Fair Street teacher Tracy Troutman.
"Fair Street is an International Academy so it only seems fitting that we celebrate in a big way such as International Peace Day," Troutman said. "I came up with the idea after reading a biography on Jane Goodall and becoming familiar with her nonprofit Roots and Shoots. They celebrate International Peace Day."
In preparation for the parade, each grade level learned through literature, music and social studies about "peace" made throughout history, according to a press release from the Gainesville City School System.
Each student from grades K - 4 created a product to carry in the parade. Kindergarten students studied Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and viewed it in many languages and eras. First graders studied about two girls from post WWII who become pen pals and "save" each other through gifts from their countries. The first graders wore dove hats made of milk jugs and carried signs that read "Verde, Peace, Verde" from the Dutch language. Second graders were introduced to Cat Steven's song "Ride on the Peace Train". They carried refrigerator boxes to create the peace train in the parade. Third graders learned about the symbols for peace from Ghana and created their own Mandalas to carry. Fourth graders read "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", then learned to fold origami cranes and created a poster that displayed the inscription from Sadako's memorial located in the Hiroshima Peace Park.
Fifth graders were the facilitators of the parade. Their roles were to carry signs for each grade level, carry the flag with the Gainesville High School Color Guard, and to play Ghanaian instruments. The students all displayed symbolism of peace in various forms.
