Students at Rasco Middle School took part in an International art and literacy project,
Pinwheels for Peace by “planting” pinwheels with personalized messages of peace around the school.
Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, Florida, as a way for students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives. In the first year, groups in over 1,325 locations throughout the world were spinning pinwheels on September 21 - there were approximately 500,000 pinwheels spinning throughout the world. Last year (year 11), 2017, over 4.5 million pinwheels were spinning in over 3,500 locations, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Rasco Middle School students created pinwheels of all shapes and sizes. As part of the creation process, the students wrote on one side their thoughts about war and peace/tolerance/living in harmony with others. On the other side they drew, painted, etc. to visually express their feelings. The students assembled their pinwheels and on the International Day of Peace they "planted" the pinwheels around the school as a public statement and art exhibit/installation.
This project is non-political – peace doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war, it can be related to violence/intolerance in our daily lives, to peace of mind. To each of us, peace can take on a different meaning but in the end it all comes down to a simple definition: a state of calm and serenity, with no anxiety, the absence of violence, freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people.
Keep a lookout for the pinwheels – the spinning of the pinwheels in the wind will spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the country and the world! For more information visit
http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com.
