A group of Eastside youth, including several Lake Washington High School students, presented a peace-building workshop at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 25.
The youth are members of Youth Peacebuilders Network (YPN), an international, peer-led organization sponsored by the Education for Peace program.
YPN chapters, in place in such diverse locations as New York City, Sarajevo, Arctic Canada and Seattle's Eastside, consist of youth leaders who challenge their peers to create a culture of peace, using an innovative new model of peacemaking called Conflict-free Conflict Resolution.
The Eastside YPN Chapter's workshop at the World Peace Forum was entitled Creating a Youth Peacebuilder Network in Your Community, and focused on creating a culture of peace and the world views that are its foundation. The workshop was well-attended, and attendees from several Northwest high schools expressed great interest in establishing a YPN chapter at their schools.
Claire Herting, a Houghton resident and YPN member, commented, "It was really gratifying to see how fellow students responded to our workshop. So many young people want build peace - they just need to learn how. YPN gives them the tools to create peace in their schools, their communities, or wherever else they want to apply it."
The Eastside YPN chapter was formed in 2005, and has active members from a number of Eastside high schools. Members from Houghton and Kirkland are Kirsten Miner, Claire Herting, Sara Madduxx, Misa Haring and Tyler Giddings.
The Eastside YPN chapter is currently working on plans for a youth-led Seattle peace summit, as well as a trip to Sarajevo to work with their fellow YPN members to train youth in building a lasting foundation for peace.
Andrew Haring is the group's advisor and can be reached at andrewharing@yahoo.com. For more information, see www.efpinternational.org.[[In-content Ad]]
