Students Honor Peace Day With Pinwheels For Peace In Manchester
MANCHESTER, NJ — Manchester Township's Regional Day School students took time Friday to celebrate International Peace Day with a Pinwheels for Peace project, district officials said.
Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, who were art teachers at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, "as a way for their students to express their feelings about what's going on in the world and in their lives," according to the project's website.
It was quickly embraced by their students and school community and soon by millions of teachers, parents, children and adults who desire peace in our world. More than 4 million pinwheels were "planted" in 2019, the organization said.
Traci Fuller, the physical education teacher at Regional Day School, first introduced the Pinwheels for Peace project to the school nearly 20 years ago, officials said. Every year since, the school has joined millions of children across the world in making pinwheels and planting them for International Peace Day.
The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution and has been held annually on Sept. 21 since 2001.
"Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace," according to the organization's website.
"The staff at Regional Day School came ready in their tie-dye apparel in celebration," the district said. "They joined their students in physical education classes throughout the day to first create the pinwheels ahead of going outside to the school's front garden and planting them together."
Pinwheels for Peace is a wonderful Regional Day School tradition that "brings peace, camaraderie, and mindfulness to the forefront for our school community," Fuller said.
Th pinwheels will remain in the school's gardens through Back to School Night.
