Monday, September 23 marked the start of the 2024 Peace Week at CCHS. Each year a campus-wide Peace Week is held, providing a week-long opportunity for individuals to come together and promote positivity throughout the community. Through different events and projects, peace is welcomed and celebrated thoroughly.
The week kicked off with activities during lunches and chalk for peace in the courtyard after school. Throughout A and B lunches, students were invited to grab treats from the cafeteria and wear “Start With Hello” name tags. After school, students were invited to join Chalk 4 Peace hosted by Multicultural Club. Each club had a designated section of the campus to showcase their creativity and spread messages about peace.
“I had a lot of fun at Chalk 4 Peace this year,” Rho Kappa Vice President of Membership Angela Joseph said. “I have attended this activity since freshman year and have always enjoyed the fun memories I make with my friends there. I enjoyed this year the most as I am now an officer of rho kappa and had the opportunity to help guide and direct my other club members. We all drew colorful symbols and messages to spread peace around the school. Rho Kappa often discusses aspects of different cultures and respect for others and I feel like Peace Week as a whole really aligns with these same ideas. I think that this was a great Peace Week to end off with.”
Tuesday, students were invited to join peer counseling in the red awning during lunch to play games of Uno. This served as a reminder to students that “it only takes one person to say hello.”
Peer counseling held a booth for banner signing on wednesday. Throughout the day, students were invited to sign the “No Place For Hate” banner, “Start With Hello” banner and a “Hope Tree Tag,” to show their support. They also held a competition for who could say hello in the most languages.
“Peace Week was very successful,” Peer Counseling Vice President Ella Mazzola said. “As peer counselors we were able to reach a lot of students. We had many students who were interested in learning how different languages say hello and signing the banner. Overall we all had a fun time interacting with our peers and getting to meet new people. We hope that everyone can show peace wherever they go and if you see someone sitting alone go up and say hello to them.”
Students showed their support for peace all around by wearing white on Thursday. Everyone on campus was invited to place painted rocks in the awning.
To close off the week, Multicultural Club hosted the peace pole ceremony during period six. Clubs sent students to attend the ceremony and represent their group. The ceremony consisted of the unveiling of a peace pole, symbolizing unity and CCooper’s pledge of peace within our school community.
The Peace Week ceremony was a beautiful way to unite all the clubs across campus and come together to promote peace,” junior Kenny Gervais said. “Being able to participate and represent CCHS Drama in the ceremony gave me a sense of pride for being a student at Cooper and being a part of the positive community we have. Overall, it truly was a joy to be a part of and to show how us proud Cowboys can all come together as a group and show support for each other.”
Peace Week served as a powerful reminder that peace stands strong within our community. As we move forward from this week, it’s important to remember to foster an environment where peace influences each action, respect floods each classroom, and kindness surrounds every member of the school.
