The Power of Peace: Students from High Tech Elementary Mesa, San Diego, show us how they created the word "peace" using items found at home.
Tawny De Alva, (STEAM Exploratory Teacher at High Tech Elementary Mesa), didn’t let the shutdown stop the students from showing their energy and creativity. Tawny and the team of teachers embraced the opportunity to include Peace in their Stay at Home curriculum and organized a Virtual Peace Run with the whole school. Thank you, Tawny and all of the teachers and students at High Tech Elementary Mesa for inspiring us all!
Tawny reports: "We held a virtual Peace Run in May, where we held three separate 'assemblies' per grade level. We stretched together, shared a grade level moment of silence, shared our wishes for peace, and watched some of the Power of Peace artwork submissions. It was wonderful. There were approximately 200 K-2 students and staff that shared this special moment with us...I can say that it was a very impactful and powerful event for our whole school".
The Power of Peace and Language: Students teach us how to say "peace" in different languages.
We met Tawny De Alva, (on the right), in 2017 when her 16-year-old daughter Madina Zermeno, (on the left), received the Torch Bearer for her inspiring work with youth initiatives for peace and justice. A kindergarten teacher at that time, Tawny asked if the team could arrange to visit her class when the Peace Run next came through San Diego (in 2018)...
...Lucky for us, in 2018 Tawny and Hawking STEAM Charter School, (where she was teaching in at the time), created an outstanding program! The entire school came together- students, teachers and other staff, and parents—with tremendous dynamism, creativity, and spirit!
Tawny,(centre left), pictured during a moment of peace with children at Hawking STEAM Charter School in 2018.
A big thank you to Emma from High Tech Elementary Mesa, San Diego, for her heart felt drawing for peace!
Our good friend Yolanda Holder lives in Corona, California, just north of San Diego. She is pictured here holding the torch when she joined the Peace Run in San Diego in 2018.
Yolanda was the first person to finish the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race by walking! She defies all odds to transcend herself with the goal to inspire others to get out and challenge themselves through physical exercise.
Yolanda tells us about her upcoming challenge:
"The 3rd Annual Virtual Extreme Walk 4 Diabetes(EW4D) 52 Day Challenge runs from June 21 – August 11, 2020 and is usually held in concurrence with the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. The 3100 Mile Race had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus, however the 52 Day Challenge is still on!
To join the 52 Day Challenge you simply need to run, walk, hike, bike, or jog one mile or more daily for 52 straight days.
My goal is to walk 1040 miles. To meet my goal I must walk 20 miles a day for 52 straight days. There are three rules. Rule #1: Have fun. Rule #2: Smile. Rule #3: Do Rule #1 & Rule #2.
One of the amazing benefits of running is it brings a community of people from all walks of life, from all over the world together under one love for unity and peace.
Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 3100 Mile Race: Oneness, One Love, World Peace. Smile.
The EW4D 52 Day Challenge is a great way to get healthy and fit his summer. Please invite your friends and family to join the challenge! There is a facebook group 3rd Annual Virtual Extreme Walk 4 Diabetes 52 Day Challenge where you can share your pictures, stats, and your Miles of Smiles!"
Local Peace Runner Nikolaus says, "Hi San Diego Peace Lovers! Congratulations on your creative and inspiring peace projects. I wish you a wonderful summer with your families!"
Long time Peace Runner, and San Diego local, Pujari says, "Hi San Diego peace runners! Really missed visiting you this year at your schools but we will definitely come back and see you all again! Keep running and creating beautiful things for peace. Have a great summer!"
Vasudha from San Diego reports that if you have to be quarantined somewhere, San Diego is a pretty nice place to do it! Though she's been running in circles (around the block, around the lake, around the park) and misses the open road of the Peace Run, she has stayed busy creating new skills training curricula for schools and businesses.
Marina says,
"My Peace Run 2020 began from the Jyoti-Bihanga restaurant in San Diego. There is so much joy in my memory from our Peace Run in 2019!
I remember how many runners came here from different places last year. Remembering those times and the feeling of oneness warms my heart! We had a lot of meetings with children, played games, sang songs and ran together around the school stadium.
I am running alone today but with every step my connection with my friends around the world grows stronger and stronger. They are running too but in different parts of our oneness-heart planet…"
Marina catching the sunrise at Mission Trails during one of her daily Peace Runs in and around San Diego.
Every day your pilgrim-heart
Has to journey far, very far,
To establish a peace-oneness-world.
-Sri Chinmoy
