Mayor David Mealor was kind enough to take some time out of his busy morning schedule to meet us at our first event this morning. Mayor Mealor has been very enthusiastically supportive and kind to the Peace Run for many years as we come through his beautiful city of Lake Mary.
Dave Morrison and his son Dave Jr. from Lake Mary lead our Peace Run team into Crystal Elementary School where the young children enthusiastically welcomed us.
Santiva Morrison, our local coordinator for the Peace Run in the greater Orlando area of Florida, leads our international group of runners in our ceremony for the children here.
The children display their beautiful artwork on the theme of peace.
Dave Jr. gives the children a clue as they try to guess where he is from.
All the runners offered their clues to the children as to where they originally hailed from. Marina's country was a difficult one for the young children, but with enough clues someone finally guessed South Korea.
School Administrator Cindy Gardner happily accepts our gifts of appreciation to her school. We are so grateful to her and all the teachers here who made this event possible, including Principal Rick Calver, who unfortunately could not join us this morning.
'Coach' Pete, the Physical Education teacher, happily takes the Peace Torch to lead the children around the playground on a 'Peace Train', 'mini' Peace Run.
After the Peace Train the children have a chance to hold the Peace Torch and offer a kind thought, wish or prayer for peace. This has always been a very significant and uplifting way for us to end our visit to the schools and it encourages us to go on sharing the sentiments of peace with all those who value and share theirs as well.
The second school we visited today was the Montessori School of East Orlando.
We offered our presentation to the children and teachers, including some parents, indoors in their beautiful auditorium.
One of our exercises was to feel peace in the heart and imagine it spreading out to all those around us.
Nice messages represented here in the children's artwork. If we can all feel the earth from our heart there would be peace everywhere.
Children had to guess which countries we came from with clues from the runners.
Looks like some students guessed this one.
The children doing the actions to our World Harmony Run song composed by Sri Chinmoy, Founder of the Peace Run. Here they are portraying 'tomorrow's sun', the future of harmony and peace.
Holding their virtual torches high.
Banshidar, originally from Hawaii, teaches the children the Hula, a Hawaiin welcoming dance representing the waves of the ocean and the sway of the coconut trees in the Pacific breeze.
We offered a few skits representing either harmonious acts or non-harmonious acts. The children had to judge which actions were represented.
Some children offered their ideas and poetry on the theme of peace for us.
Head of the school, Marcia along with teacher Altagracia Primas and Santiva, our local coordinator. Altagracia is wearing the Peace Run Torch-Bearer Award presented to her embodiment of mindfulness. She was described also as one who practices this mindfulness in everything she does every day.
Two students holding our gift of gratitude to the school for their enthusiastic participation.
Some children were excited to display their artwork as they ran outside to join the mini Peace Run there.
Running under a 'bridge' during our 'Peace Train' Peace Run.
Santiva enjoys sharing the Peace Torch with the children as they pass it to one another and make wishes for peace.
This child and his sister accepted the Peace Run Torch-Bearer Award for their father, Jeff Secrease, who is the PCA President and whose hard work and dedication he has offered to the school is unmatched.
Some of the older students happily displaying their Peace Run cards representing different countries.
We are very grateful to all the teachers, administrators and students of this Montessori School for welcoming us and sharing in the energy and joy of spreading peace.
Santiva, originally from Mexico, Antana from Canada, and Marina from South Korea smiling by the Peace Tree offered by the Peace Run in Orlando to be planted by the gardener in a special place on the grounds of the Montessori School of East Orlando. There are many trees around the world offered by the Peace Run to those who wish to celebrate and spread peace in their local communities and expanding to the world at large
