Veterans for Peace Gainesville announces its 7th Annual Alachua County Peace Poetry Contest, where all students, grades K–12, are encouraged to submit one original poem focusing on the idea of peace and social justice.
The deadline for submitting a poem to the contest is March 21.
Veterans for Peace held their sixth annual Peace Poetry contest reading/reception on May 9. There were 225 poems submitted from all K–12 schools in Alachua County, and 34 winners were chosen. The students read their poems in front of 150 guests and received a gift certificate to a local bookstore and a book, which included all of the winning poems. This year Veterans for Peace also awarded three $500 scholarships to 3 students — Manuela Osorio (pictured), Catalina Cardenas (pictured), and Michelle Nelson —entering or attending college who have demonstrated leadership in peace and social justice causes. Musicians Lauren Ann Robinson and Bill Hutchinson performed at the event. Photos by Deborah Hendrix.
The June 2015 issue of the Gainesville Iguana is now available online, and it’s got lots of good stuff (Bernie Sanders, an oral history interview with David Barsamian, a Florida Legislative update from FL NOW, a Sleep Creek Lands/Adena Springs report, and more!). You can also pick the issue up at any of our distribution spots, which you can find here.
Tagged abby goldsmith, aclc, adena springs, alachua county labor coalition, bernie sanders, Civic Media Center, CMC, david barsamian, dezeray lyn, FLNOW, florida national organization for women, juneteenth, kenito weeks, kenneth weeks, kent state, living wage, memorial mile, peace poetry contest, samuel proctor oral history program, silver springs, sleepy creek lands, students for justice in palestine, wgot
Gainesville Veterans for Peace Chapter 14 announces its annual Peace Scholarships for the spring of 2015. We are awarding two scholarships of $500 each for eligible high school seniors, college students or adults who need financial support to succeed in college and who have demonstrated a commitment and leadership in activities involving: peace and social justice and/or nonviolent social change.
To be eligible to apply for the Peace Scholarship, the applicant must either be: 1) a high school senior planning to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school in the United States for the 2015-16 academic year; 2) a college student currently enrolled and in good standing; or 3) an adult student enrolling in higher education who needs financial assistance.
Posted in Articles, March 2015
Tagged peace poetry, peace poetry contest, peace scholarship, Veterans for Peace
Photo by Paul Ortiz.
The 4th Annual Peace Poetry Contest, organized by Gainesville Veterans for Peace, was a great success this year with more than 230 total entries and 32 winners from grades 1–12. The Public Reading for the winners took place on May 11 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Below is the 1st Place poem for grades 1–5 by Caden Kresak, a 4th grader from Archer Elementary School.
You can read all of the winning poems in the here: 2013 Peace Poetry Booklet. Photos of the event can be found here. Soon, you will also be able to see a video of the Public Reading there, thanks to the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.
If We Try
If there are no boundaries
Between north and south, west and east
And we all share the land,
Then we can all live in peace
If we help one another
Aid the poor, spread the feast
And we all share Earth’s goods
Then we can all live in peace
If we can agree to disagree
The whole world sign a treaty
And we use words not weapons,
Then we can all live in peace
No folded flags for mothers
All the violence has ceased
If we all accept our neighbors,
Then we can all live in peace
Caden Kresak, 4th Grade, Archer Elementary School
1st Place, Grades 1–5
Mohandas Gandhi said, “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
With an increasingly corporate-controlled government that seems to have little regard for the views and desires of the American people, it’s easy to feel helpless and voiceless. Dreams of a peaceful world quickly become mere illusions.
